Back in 2003, almost accidentally, Robbi and I made our first book together. I was in the habit of lying in bed at night writing strange, nonlinear, episodic stories about god and adolescence. Occasionally, I’d share them with Robbi, who found them amusing but unsatisfying. They were too disjoined, too airy, too cryptic. They needed something. They needed ballast. They needed her drawings. And so she added some, and so a book emerged. And so we realized how much fun it was to make books together. A few years later, we made a few decisions that led to our current existence as  barn-based independent publishers.

We have spent seven+ years making books in this barn but lately have had an itch to try something else. Not instead of the books, mind you. We both plan to make books together as long as we both draw breath. But we’ve been feeling the urge to make different kinds of printed matter. Cards and invitations and broadsides and other beautiful items with pictures and words. And what better medium to satisfy this interest than letterpress?

We did some Googling and stumbled upon an auction for a Chandler & Price press. The press in question was in the vicinity of Harrisburg, PA. We were drawn to its size (able to print an area up to 10″ x 15″) and its quality (Chandler & Price has a good reputation), and its aesthetics (who can resist that rich wooden surfaces, those heavy iron fittings?

We’ll describe the mechanics of the thing in another post. Actually, Robbi will describe them, because I am a complete novice. At this point, I just like how it looks and what it represents, which is beauty and craft and a vehicle for expression.

I love its mechanical elegance, its sturdiness and its style.

One of the liabilities of age, however, is old rollers. The rollers transfer the ink from the platen to the plate that will then ink the paper. Rollers in this state of disrepair would not do.

And yet, we were intrigued by the press. It was relatively close (presses are heavy and expensive to move). It would print a range of sizes. And it was, by all accounts, in good working condition, other than a few necessary tune-ups (the rollers among them).

Perhaps this is a good time to introduce Jodi, Robbi’s old friend and the newest member of our team. Jodi has been helping us with everything—from filling orders to marketing strategy to database management. Jodi is five-star great, and we’re thrilled to have her. Jodi is the one who found the auction, and, as such, she was heavily invested as the bidding unfolded.

We had decided on our absolute high bid limit and were determined not surpass it. With an hour to go in the auction, we were the high bidders at half of that amount. We were feeling pretty good about ourselves. But then, with 15 minutes to go, someone beat our bid. And so we counterbid. And back. And forth. And back again. We were inching perilously close to our bid ceiling and feared for the worst.

After all, we really wanted this press.

With a minute to go, we pushed the bidding up to within $50 of our limit and once again took the lead. If we were counterbid, we were sunk. It was now or nothing.

We watched nervously as the clock counted down to the end of the auction.

At precisely 2:00, the auction ended, and the press was ours.

Clearly, the powers that be wanted us to have this press. Clearly, our latest irrational impulse was grounded in something worth listening to. Or so we tell ourselves.

There was much excitement in the barn.

As we speak, the guys who own the press are in the process of re-coating the rollers and doing a general tune-up of our heavy new friend. Here she is again.

Don’t you think she’ll look nice in the barn?

In case you are wondering, once we have the press, we fully intend to use it.

The general plan: to start a design studio dedicated to producing beautiful yet funny and irreverent printed matter. Unexpected birth announcements. Snappy save the date cards. Satirical certificates of dubious achievement. This seems to fit right in our wheelhouse.

So why not?

The press is en route.

The name of our new venture is under consideration.

The ideas are flying faster than we can write them down.

Stay tuned for more updates. And if you have a big event upcoming (and if you like our humor and our style), keep us in mind.

We’re not quite ready to get started yet, but it won’t be long now, we think.