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Penrith Museum of Printing facts for kids

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Penrith Museum of Printing Inc.
Logo Penrith Museum of Printing.jpg
Established 2001; 24 years ago (2001)
Location Ransley St, Penrith, New South Wales 2750 Australia
Type Printing museum
Founder Alan Connell

The Penrith Museum of Printing is a super cool place in Penrith, New South Wales, Australia. It's all about letterpress printing, which is an old way of printing using raised letters and images. Imagine pressing inked metal letters onto paper to make words! The museum shows how this amazing process worked and has lots of old machines that still run.

How the Museum Started

The idea for the museum began with a man named Alan Connell (1922–2020). He used to work for a newspaper called The Nepean Times. In 1987, he walked past the old newspaper building and saw that the printing machines were still there, even after 25 years!

Alan wanted to save these old machines and keep the history alive. He asked the owner if he could have some of the equipment. He then stored these machines and added more letterpress items to his collection.

The museum officially opened its doors on June 2, 2001. A government minister, Jackie Kelly, helped open it. The museum also got support from other groups and a special grant from the government.

In September 2017, the museum closed for a big upgrade. They added more space, including a new entrance area and a library. This $130,000 upgrade gave them more room to show off all their working machines. The museum reopened in November 2018, with Penrith Councillor Brian Cartwright there to celebrate.

What You Can See and Do

The Penrith Museum of Printing has a huge collection of letterpress machines and tools. The best part is that many of these machines are still working! Some of them are over 150 years old, but they can still print. The museum's goal is to have all the equipment running so visitors can see and experience how printing used to be.

You can see many different types of old printing machines here. Some examples include:

  • Linotype and Intertype machines: These machines from the early 1900s could create whole lines of text at once.
  • Columbian press: This is a very old hand press from 1841.
  • Albion press: Another hand press, this one is from 1864.
  • Wharfedale stop cylinder press: This machine, from around 1880, was used by The Nepean Times newspaper.
  • Treadle presses: Like Chandler & Price, Arab, and Pearl presses, which were powered by foot pedals.
  • Heidelberg platen and Miehle vertical cylinder press: These are more advanced automated presses.

Did you know the museum was even featured in a movie? In 2018, the film Ladies in Black used the museum to look like the printing room of the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper!

Exploring the Museum's Machines

The museum has many interesting machines, each with its own story. Here are some of them:

Penrith Museum of Printing
Machine Name What it Did Year Made Where it Came From
Linotype model 5 Made lines of text 1902 Believed to be from Colin McPherson, NSW, Australia
Linotype model 8 Made lines of text 1922 Nepean Times newspaper, Penrith, NSW, Australia
Intertype C3 Made lines of text 1935 Saxon Press Commercial Printer, Bexley, NSW, Australia
Intertype C4 Made lines of text 1942 Used to print the French newspaper Le Courrier Australien
Ludlow Composed type
Edwards & Dunlop Proofing press Sydney, NSW, Australia
Vandercook Proofing press
Common Press Wooden hand press 1770 Donated by Richard Jermyn, Eden, NSW, Australia
Columbian Hand press 1841 Carcoar Chronicle until 1939, donated by Fairfax, NSW, Australia
Albion Hand press 1864 Originally owned by Angus & Coote, Jewellers, NSW
Wharfedale Stop cylinder press ~1880 Nepean Times newspaper, Penrith, NSW, Australia
Chandler & Price Treadle press
Arab Treadle press
Pearl Treadle press Saxon Press Commercial Printer, Bexley, NSW, Australia
Emil Kahle Small hand press ~1910 Gearside, Lithgow, NSW, Australia
Adana (several) Small hand press
Heidelberg platen Automated press ~1935 Saxon Press Commercial Printer, Bexley, NSW, Australia
Heidelberg platen Automated press 1966 School Graphic Arts, Sydney
Miele vertical Automated press 1966
Gestener Duplicator SP20 Duplicator ~1935 Hannanprint, NSW, Australia

The Museum Library

The Penrith Museum of Printing also has a large library. It's filled with books, manuals, old documents, and other cool items related to letterpress printing.

While you can't borrow books from the museum, you can visit during opening hours to look through the collection and learn even more about printing history.

See Also

  • The Nepean Times
  • List of newspapers in Australia
  • Museums and Galleries in NSW, Australia
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