On our drive back from Chicago to Minneapolis, we passed through Wisconsin and detoured for three hours to get to the Hamilton Wood Type Museum in Two Rivers, Wisconsin. The museum holds one of the largest collections of wood type in the world. 1.5 million pieces of wood type, and more than 1,000 styles and sizes of patterns. The museum is a fully functional workshop and educational venue. Many collections of antique printing technologies from the 19th, 20th and the soon-to-be-added 21st century wood type.
Jim Moran is running the museum currently, printing and archiving. Jim Moran’s brother, Bill Moran is artistic director at the museum, but also runs a design/printshop studio in St. Paul, MN named Blinc Publishing. He also taught (teaches still, I think) my Typography One class when I went to MCAD.
The minute we walked into the museum, we were put to work. Jim, along with Rick Griffith, were in the process of constructing one of the largest prints they’ve ever printed at the Hamilton Wood Type museum. It was for a sign they wanted to hang in the shop to commemorate the 130th anniversary of Hamilton Wood Type. Here are a few photographs of the process we helped out with. Very very cool to be involved in the printing of this!
