The Penrith Museum of Printing, Sydney (known as the PMOP).
We’d like to tell all you ‘lovers of letterpress’ who reside in the Northern Hemisphere, something about the growth of what is Australia’s largest and most active print museum.
The Penrith Museum of Printing (PMOP), was founded over 20 years ago, after the closure of a local newspaper, The Nepean Times, located in Penrith, a suburb on the outskirts of Sydney.
Over the last few years, we’ve seen a steady growth in membership, but also in visitor numbers, as our fame spreads by word-of-mouth, but also through our active social networking.
Reviving lost crafts
We’ve gained considerable momentum in recent years, propelled by a renewed interest in the idea of restoring ‘lost trades’. We now hold a series of workshops and tours. We’re also participating in regional and rural arts-and-crafts fairs—and as word gets out, we’re being increasingly asked to be part of such events.
One of our messages is to think, for a moment, what a library would look like with no books. Or, spare a thought for Shakespeare if there’d been no press to print his famous Fourth Folio, back in 1685.
We’re also shining a light on what printing looked like, just over 100 year ago, when trades such as hand-composing or being a Linotype operator, or a letterpress printer were common! It’s amazing how many visitors remark that their grandfather or uncle was a Linotype operator but they never really knew what he did! In other words, we’re using the approach of making print seem relatable, not technical!
Here is a brief list of some of the projects and activities we’ve been engaged in over the past year or so.
As mentioned, the Museum has strong links to Australia’s print heritage, being formed from the closure of one of our earliest newspapers. All the presses actually work, along with our extensive range of wood and metal type. We ask kids (from nine to ninety) to set their own names and even print their own ‘special award’ certificates. Although we may call it a museum, there are no cobwebs here!
Reaching out to a wider community
More recently, we’ve begun to reach out to a wider audience (ie, the local and non-print community), including groups from our State Library who enjoyed a lunch and a fascinating talk on hand-bookbinding of rare books.
We’ve also held a number of ‘serious’ talks covering such topics as Shakespeare’s reliance on print, the boxwood engravers and the amazing story of The Picturesque Atlas of Australia (see it on YouTube: Boxwood engraving for letterpress).
And most recently, every week we now issue a ‘Trivia Question’ (not sure how that translates into Estonian or Slovenian) on our Facebook page. The question is print-related, may be humorous or serious—but it invites Facebook subscribers to respond—and we publish their answers (see our website’s Facebook page). It must tap into some human need to demonstrate our superior knowledge, as it is becoming increasingly popular. It may be something Aepm members, 1) may like to try and participate in, or 2) kick off their own version!
Rescuing an old press
Last year we gained considerable publicity for holding a crowdfunding exercise which helped ‘rescue’ a press (a Heidelberg Zylinder, built in Germany just before WW2), which was sent to Australia after the war and was used to print a regional newspaper here for many years. It was about to be thrown on the scrapheap. It now sits pride of place, fully restored and happily printing, to the great delight of kids of all ages.
Other activities
We’re also increasing the number of workshops we’re holding, relating to letterpress printing, printmaking and typography.
Coach tours: we’re getting an increasing number of visitors from retirement villages, car clubs and other civic groups who always leave with a satisfied look on their faces, and who often give us feedback that this was the most interesting tour they’ve been on! (Who said print is boring!!!)
Art Galleries and Libraries: it’s a slow process but we’re having some success in reaching out to local art galleries and libraries, especially if they have an open day. We come along with an old Chandler-Price and print brochures and leaflets, explaining to their amazement that this is letterpress, not digital!
Now that international travel is opening up, any Aepm members planning to visit Australia, especially Sydney, are welcome to send us an email and we look forward to giving you a personalised visit—and a souvenir certificate confirming you as an official visitor to the PMOP of Sydney!
James Cryer
