1860 GALLEY PROOF PRESS
As many can testify, printers always need a method to check their work for elusive typos and this has traditionally been the case. Proofing printer’s type prior to the mid-19th century required a rather simple technique. The compositor placed the composing stick or galley of type on top of the composing stone, inked it by rolling a brayer over the type; after a sheet of paper was positioned over it, they would strike it with a mallet, hopefully with enough pressure to create a satisfactory impression. The quality of the image varied and certainly wasn’t used for reproduction, but it served the purpose of checking the type for errors. This technique required a skilled hand to create the image while not smashing the type in the process. In smaller shops or when saving time was a factor, this process of proofing was used as long as letterpress remained king of printing methods.
But in 1850, R. Hoe & Company devised a simple press that would perform the function of proofing and with superior results than with the mallet and plane. It was called a galley proof press and consisted of a heavy cylinder and an iron bed measuring about 10” x 38” with iron rails on each side of the bed. The galley of type would be placed in the bed of the press and then inked up by hand with a brayer. After a sheet of paper was placed on top of the type, the heavy cylinder and an iron bed measuring about 10” x 38” with iron rails on each side of the bed. The galley of type would be placed in the bed of the press and then inked up by hand with a brayer. After a sheet of paper was placed on top of the type, the heavy cylinder would be rolled along the iron rails over the type to print an image on the paper. Probably one of the simplest presses ever designed. The legend goes that one of Hoe’s employees came up with the idea by accident when a cylinder rolled over some type, creating an impression.
The early Hoe galley press was successful but unfortunately few survive today; more common are the improved models from around 1870. Because of its simplicity and low cost, the press was widely copied by various manufacturers such as the Challenge Machinery Co., the Cincinnati Type Founders, and others. The improved model was similar to the original but it had a lighter and larger diameter cylinder. They were sometimes made large enough for a twenty-inch-wide galley.
Sometime in the 1870’s, a patent medicine doctor by the name of Dr. Dexter Miles from Elkhart, Indiana, approached the Challenge Machinery Co. with a novel idea. He asked them to make a quantity of improved proof presses for him but rather than have the name Challenge cast into the frame he wanted his name and product– Miles Nervine at one end of the press bed and Miles Pain Pills at the other. Dr. Miles then traveled the country and offered his proof presses to editors of country newspapers in exchange for free advertising space, promoting the curative power of Miles Nervine. He had two different castings made, one that included the phrase Miles Pain Pills and another with Miles Heart Cure. Though probably closer to a straight shot of whiskey than genuine medicine, Miles’ advertising techniques must have met some degree of success since many of the presses survive today as well as the Miles Laboratory. The presses can be found among hobbyists and collectors today and Alka Seltzer has replaced Dr. Miles’ restorative Nervine.
The galley proof press was also one of the pieces of equipment printers brought out West with them on a covered wagon to help produce the early frontier newspapers; it would have accompanied a treadle platen press, a Washington Hand press, miscellaneous printer’s furniture, type, and supplies. If the printer was impoverished and the town was small enough, the proof press might even have been used for producing the newspaper.
At the Museum, we have a rather large 20” x 45” proof press from the Lindner Collection that was originally part of the Los Angeles Times newspaper plant in the late 19th century, when the founder General Otis Chandler was still around. One of the former employees of the paper managed to save the press from destruction when much of the older equipment was being removed. The employee stashed the iron bed and cylinder underneath his house, remaining there for many years. After becoming aware of Ernie Lindner and his collection of machinery, the employee mentioned the press under his house. It wasn’t long before the press was dragged out from its secure location and added to Ernie’s collection.
