Join the Museum of Printing in Haverhill as they celebrate Hot Metal Day on Saturday, February 1. Activities from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. celebrate the Linotype machine, a hot metal typesetting system invented in the late nineteenth century.
Watch demonstrations on the museum’s Linotype Model 31 by operator, Michael Babcock, of Interrobang Letterpress. Cast a name, favorite word, or emoji in hot metal on a Ludlow type caster, and print a keepsake with museum staff in the Letterpress Studio.
Ludlow typecasters, keyboard-less machines able to cast lines of display type from handset brass matrices, were manufactured by the Ludlow Typograph Company from 1912 to the late 1980s.
Learn about the history of the Linotype and Ludlow from museum president, Frank Romano, with lectures at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. See Doug Wilson’s movie, Linotype: The Film at either 11:30 a.m. or 2:30 p.m.
Take time to see the museum’s rare 1883 second prototype called the Second Band Machine, and a 1972 Elektron II, the last model Linotype ever built. Check out all the Linotype specimen books and a cabinet full of unique Linotype artifacts in the Romano Library.
Head to the Museum of Printing on February 1 to learn how the Linotype changed the world. For more information, visit museumofprinting.org.