OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Collectors Corner Collectables Mower Newsprint Printing Blocks - A Selection

Scores these beauties today! 16 Stamps, most for mowers. 2 Victa Badge stamps, a little one for a consul 2 maybe? then 3 big ones, one for a self propelled, one for an Envoy and the other one for a Consul something. 2 Pope stamps, 4 that I am not sure about (the badges on the mowers look the same), 2 for some farm equipment and 1 for a Valiant 225 car. There is one that I think is for a coping saw that i forgot to take a pic of, its a bit scratched up.

16 beauties!


6 Victas!


2 Popes


2 Farm Machines and 1 Valiant car Stamp



I am not sure what these are, they look like they have the same badge


Thanks For Reading!
Kye.

That's pretty impressive Kye they have to be particularly rare. Being lead they are quite delicate and surprising they weren't melted down for scrap or fishing sinkers by now. I have an old ad for a Chrysler dealer that I keep wrapped up in a rag in the bottom of a drawer. Where did you come across them?

G'day Kye and slashnburn

That's the biggest collection of newsprint blocks I've seen.
They would look fantastic framed by theme, with the printed
version next to them.

I'll do the unknown one (last stamp).


The top two are Australian Whirlwind slashers


Bottom right is a Whirlwind Tractor drawn slasher:-


Bottom left will be a Cox Mowmatic

G'day folks,
Just to get some terminology right here, these aren't stamps.

What they are, is printing blocks of half-tone images, which were used in the now obsolete letterpress printing process.

This was the way that most local newspapers were printed, up until the 1970's; city newspapers used a variant called 'rotary letterpress'.

The accompanying text was made in the newspaper's printery, using a 'Linotype machine', which cast the bars of type from molten metal [one of a range of Lead/Tin/Antimony alloys known collectively as 'Type Metal']. Then it and the blocks were 'set' into pages, and printed.

But image blocks like these had to be made from line drawings or photos by the 'halftone process', which few local newspapers had the equipment to do. So the job of making these blocks was farmed out to specialist typesetting firms. The end product was these thin type metal plaques, which were then mounted on the wood backing so as to fit the 'forme' [holding frame for each page] along with the bars of text, at the same height.

This was a relatively expensive process, so it was only commonly used for advertising, where the image blocks were re-used in many editions of the paper, in local papers. City papers used it for photos too, as they had in-house halftone facilities.

That's the reason why images are rare in most local papers in the National Library's 'Trove' digitised online collection. As CyberJack is all too aware...

For sales campaigns, manufacturers would supply ready-made blocks [some with text included, as in Kye's pics] to their dealers, for their local advertising.

I used to give the old man a hand with proofreading and production of a fruit growing industry newsletter in Cobram, Vic, in the 1970's.

The printer [Wally Gawne] in Shepparton used this letterpress technology then [and I saw all of the bits in use on visits to them], but the then new processes of offset printing and phototypesetting had taken over by the time the old man left that job, in 1983.

This was a step change for local newspapers too - they could just do the press-ready copy in house, and outsource the actual printing. So nearly all of them did...

There are a few printing museums still in existence, which just closed their doors at that time. Real 'time capsule' stuff.
One is in Chiltern, Vic:
http://www.tourisminternet.com.au/chmus4.htm
https://www.nationaltrust.org.au/places/the-federal-standard-printing-works/

Hi Gadge

I have changed the title to suit.
That first link is a little confusing.
I wonder whether plates with illustrations are 'Stereotype Plates'?

Cheers
--------------------
Jack

Brilliant find Kye. I'm in awe of how you manage to ferret these things out.

And thanks Gadge for the really informative commentary.

Cheers,

I found them at the local flea markets Slash, I was very happy

Thanks Cyber! I thought the badges looked like whirlwind but i wasn't quite sure. I am planning to someday frame them with the printed version. Thanks for changing the name too!

Thanks for all that info Gadge, I knew they would have been used for printing blocks but all i could think of in my head was stamps.

You just need to look!
I also just realized that the coping saw one is not a saw, but a chain saw sharpener! Very cool and will go with my dads chainsaw collection once we have them set up!

Can't wait to see what i get next weekend!

Thanks For Reading!
Kye.

My step dad used to do a bit of screen printing so we used some of the ink to run a few copts of my block. You could always use some kids water based paint for a bit of fun.

Hi Kye

I really don't know how you do it.
It is as though the Mower Goddess has touched and blessed you.
I do feel though, that you are a quick learner in these matters.

The Howard Foxie and Terrier blocks might be of
interest to collectors of Australian-made Howards...

The Pope ones date from the mid-1960s.
Bote I think are two strokes, but with the 4-stroke air-cleaner
that Pope were fitting prior to the snorkel designs.

Haha Jack I just get lucky, everything seems to be there waiting for me to buy it! Yes the terrier and Foxie definitely would be good for a collector! I am willing to sell if anyone wants them, sadly they are quite scratched up, I don't collect those so i don't really want to keep them, the rest are taking up enough room as it is haha! Someones already claimed the Valiant.

I can just imagine collectors all around Australia gritting their teeth.
All the best on your Indiana Jone's mower hunts.

I feel you are showing others that you must go outside to collect.
Many times, the internet won't do it for you.

I know, for example, that Paul_C camps out and frequents dumps

True, but, if good examples of the actual ads as they appeared in print
could be found, then that's the trick. You frame the block and an example
of how it looked in print. The block, itself, is admired for what it is,
worn or pristene.

For example, the Pope ad I re-produced above, would look great next to
the block that made it. Here, I have reversed the block to show that I
believe it was the block type that made the advert illustration.



Just thoughts.
-------------------
Jack

Yes that would look very good, i wouldn't mind framing them with the original ad and an image that i made with the actual block, would be interesting to see how similar they turn out to be. I am also planning to sell of the Foxie and Terrier on my Facebook page in the next couple of weeks, or months, they look very nice sitting next to my laptop! The Valiant is sold and the rest i am planning to keep, might change my mind though, its a bit selfish not to share

G'day folks,

The answer is, most likely! As these were produced in bulk, not as one-offs. The Stereotype process involved creation of a metal master, then using that to make as many 'matrix' moulding plates as required, to cast the type metal copies. The copies were then used for the actual printing.

Some examples: http://mmop.org.au/gallery/stereo01/index.htm

Wow, that was some interesting reading. Well done Kye!

I'm an old Hand and Machine Compositor from the printing trade from way back and these sure bring back memories.

G'day MickyD

That great and interesting info ...
Do you have any particular comments or anecdotes on the technology?
I guess, the technology was replaced by ...?

Cheers
---------------------
Jack