What’s in a Font?

At the Sacramento History Museum, Jared and Harold run the press shop, creating authentic letterpress images. They are both hugely popular You Tube stars. Curious visitors want to know how printing used to be done, and since I started my career with an old time publishing company in Los Angeles that used linotype machines, I’ve always felt right at home. See my Sept 2025 post, Presses, Typography and History

Watching Jared took me right back to the lovely man who performed the same tasks, only so very long ago. We’re designing the cover of the May Woolsey book, and considering the era, 1870s, we feel that contemporary fonts just don’t have that authenticity. So I asked Jared if he would please print the text the old-fashioned way, and at the same time, make one of his famous videos for our project.

Normally, Jared has a running commentary but since he’s printing for us, he’s a bit quiet. He’ll add a voice over to his video.

I’ve asked him to print an imperfect example. He explains “friars” and “monks.” This was not something I usually aspire to, but I thought it might be interesting to try. The terms refer to the very old days when friars and monks copied texts by hand.

Perhaps because the cover (to be revealed later) is quite busy, the title should be perfect. But this is fun in the meantime. Jared printed in blue, which won’t be the colors on the cover, and that is also to be determined.

Links to the Sacramento History Museum and the Old Sacramento Waterfront in case you want to support and visit.

Maybe we all want to touch, smell and experience real things and people. What good is history if we ignore the past for uninformed ideology? Want to meet the influencers from the 19th Century in person? Get your tickets now for History on Stage, an amazing event.