To ink his press, preparatory to printing, the “beater” spread the necessary amount of ink on his mixing block and rubbed it to an even consistency—that of stiff molasses—with a wooden brayer. With two leather-covered balls attached to wooden handles, he then collected ink from the stone, beat the “ink balls” together to distribute the sticky fluid over their surfaces, and then with a rapid rocking and rolling motion, transferred it onto the type. Then the “puller” placed his paper on a skin-covered wooden frame called a tympan and folded over it another light covered frame, called a frisket. These two frames in turn folded down onto the bed of the press, where the type was locked in its iron form or chase.
The actual impression was made by rolling the bed of the press, complete with folded tympan and frisket, beneath the platen, which was suspended from a large metal screw. By applying the force of the screw, the puller pressed the paper firmly against the inked type. The size of the printed matter might vary from a small bookplate or lottery ticket to a sheet twelve by eighteen inches, which was roughly the page size of Purdie and Dixon’s Virginia Gazette of 1759. Whatever the dimension, the beater had to ink his form and the puller had to close and open his press again each time a surface was printed. Since the platen was so small, only one-half of a two-page wide newspaper could be printed at a time on the early press, and a repeat operation was required to complete one side of the sheet. Thus the press was sometimes called a “two-pull” press.
Two experienced pressmen, working at full speed, could turn out a “token” or 240 printed sheets (with two pulls and on one side only) per hour. Such a speed could not long be maintained; the practical output was closer to 200 sheets per hour. But wages were low, working hours were long, and the printer could keep his force on the job until the work was done.
THE PRINTER AND HIS MEN
Because of its close association with literature, the craft of printing has generally attracted a more intellectual type of craftsman and enjoyed a prestige greater than most others. Over the centuries, master printers have jealously enforced the standards of their predecessors, insisting today, as in the eighteenth century, on a long apprenticeship for learners. Upon completion of the stipulated learning period and achievement of the required proficiency, the apprentice then, as now, became a journeyman. A mature and experienced worker at this stage, he was qualified to take his leave of his master, if he desired, and to practice his craft where he wished. When such a printer engaged in work for himself and employed others, he became a master printer.
The apprentice system was in some respects a great boon to eighteenth-century craftsmen, for it provided cheap labor in return only for training and the necessities of life. Each master took into his establishment a number of youngsters, hoping that some might prove of “bright genius and good disposition.” To these he obligated himself to provide food, shelter, and in most cases, clothing. The apprentice thereupon became a member of the printer’s household, performing any chores assigned to him in the home, shop, or printing office. But although apprentice labor was cheap, it was unskilled and often inept. Apprenticeships were frequently broken off, and only the relatively few youths who were suited for the work and desirous of learning the “art and mystery” of the craft kept at it until accepted as journeymen at the age of twenty-one.
Many accounts have come down to us of the abuses as well as the uses of the apprentice system. Runaways were frequent, as attested by advertisements such as the one William Parks ran in the Virginia Gazette in 1745 for the return of a “smooth-tongued” apprentice “who makes Locks, and is dexterous at picking them.” Sometimes mere children were apprenticed by poorer families who were unable to support them. Isaiah Thomas, a New England printer, was indentured at the age of six. In return for his training and keep, he bound himself to avoid drunkenness and carnal pursuits and to serve his master until he became twenty-one. However, the majority of apprentices were indentured at fourteen, to serve until they reached man’s estate.
The apprentice system largely supplied the printer’s need for unskilled labor, but he could supplement it with slaves or with indentured servants. The latter were usually young Englishmen of the lower classes who had emigrated to America and who had bound themselves to a term of labor in return for their voyage. Unlike apprentices, however, they were not required to be taught to print.
Trained, or journeymen, printers were scarce in colonial times, and they seem to have been often on the go. Even master printers moved about frequently. William Parks had engaged in printing in three English towns and in Annapolis before coming to Williamsburg in 1730. William Rind, who established his paper in Williamsburg in 1766, came there from Annapolis. Of Williamsburg’s other master printers and journeymen, some were locally trained but others had been apprenticed in England.