Thursday, October 09, 2008

Vintage Thingies Thursday - Typesetter's Drawer

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Long ago, in the years B.C. (before computers), typesetters produced all printed material, and most of the work was done by hand. During the letterpress era, moveable type was composited by hand for each page. Cast metal sorts (pieces of metal type representing a particular letter or symbol) were composited into words and lines of text and tightly bound together to make up a page image called a forme, with all letter faces exactly the same height to form an even surface of type. The forme was mounted in a press, inked, and an impression made on paper. Typesetters stored these sorts in large, wooden trays or drawers.

Because I love the beach and have my whole house decorated with beach things, I hung my typesetter tray on the wall, and filled the compartments with different seashells and pieces of coral and other pretties I have found on the beach. I still have a few empty compartments so I can add to my collection!


6 comments:

Threeundertwo said...

What a great way to use this! I wonder how many of these are still around.

Unknown said...

Looks beautiful with all the seashells! I have items from places I've visited in mine.

mub said...

I see these so often at the thrift shops here, but I don't have any cool things to put inside them so I resist buying them *L* I like the idea of putting the shells in it!

Jennifer said...

That is a great idea! I always pass those up because I never know what to do with them.

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful tray and what a great way to enjoy it with some of your favorite things. I like it!

grace said...

I LOVE that. I'd seen something similar in an antique store before and wondered what it was originally--thanks for educating me!