Some Things Even Older

by Judy Grande

While some publishers fantasize about Mitsubishi's keyless offset technology or KBA's modular Anilox Colora, there's something to be said for big, old, noisy letterpresses. Some just never die. And, unlike MacArthur, some don't even fade away.

As it surveyed newspapers with very old but still operational presses, TechNews may have uncovered the granddaddies of them all-presses bought in the 1920s that are still roaring. These Prohibition-era presses can be found at the Exponent-Telegram in Clarksburg, W.V., and the Monroe (Mich.) Evening News.

The Clarksburg paper, which runs a 68-inch web width (no, that's not a misprint), uses a mid-1920s-vintage Goss straightline. "It runs well, it prints well," says Production Director Joe Elam. But some changes are in the works, possibly including a cut to a 58-inch web.

The Monroe paper has a 1924 Duplex Printing Press Co. standard tubular press and cousin from 1932. Wally Cron, pressroom supervisor, says the paper is considering new equipment for the presses because the only color they can print is spot. Cron says he scavenges for parts, such as gears and cylinders, from papers going out of business.

The press manufacturers, for the most part, no longer store parts for their elderly presses, and some vendors aren't even around any more. Duplex Printing Press Co. of Battle Creek, Mich., went out of business just after World War II, and its assets were purchased by Goss, which is now part of Rockwell Graphic Systems, says Dick Hirst, a former Goss employee. Hirst is now a regional sales manager for KBA-Motter Corp.

Some normally hard-nosed production directors and pressroom supervisors get downright sentimental when they talk about their old presses. They say they are not difficult to maintain or to keep running, with the exception of finding replacement parts.

At The Capital City Press in Baton Rouge, La., Frank Dantzler maintains his 1953 Goss Mark I Headliner with parts he's been stockpiling for years. Dantzler says it'll probably run forever with proper maintenance.

Bill Owen, production manager at The Fayetteville Observer and Times, the oldest paper in North Carolina, says the key to the longevity of his 1957 press is cleanliness. "Keep a clean press, run a clean product." But he also has a special way of achieving this. His press operators stencil their names on their units. If a unit is dirty, you know who's responsible, says Owen. "Someone will say, 'Hey, Glen didn't clean his unit today.' "

The Times Leader in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., runs a 1951 Hoe, but you wouldn't know it. The paper consistently wins awards for both its color and black-and-white quality.

The Chicago Sun-Times has 10 Goss Headliners from the late 1950s. Frank Marcangelo, vice president of production, says his paper runs as much color on the old presses as any paper in the United States. But the company is considering a brand new printing plant.

Will he pine away for the old Headliners?

"To some extent," he says. "It's such a straightforward press...and I know I'll miss the building shaking when we fire up all 10."

Judy Grande is a free-lance writer in Great Falls, Va. Phone is (703) 759-0241.