July 24, 2010

Hatch Show Print: the art of American letterpress

I have a love that borders on unhealthy obsession for the look of Hatch Show Print letterpress art.  Though you may not be familiar with the name Hatch Show Print, their advertising poster style has a look that’s so familiar it’s iconic. Affiliated with the Country Music Hall of Fame and the official poster shop for the Ryman Auditorium, they’ve been operating continuously in Nashville since 1879. And the letters and forms they used back then are still being used today — what owner Jim Sherradan refers to as “preservation through production.” In fact, everything they do here is done by hand — absolutely no computers in evidence. They even call their customers on a rotary phone.

This 8-minute video is a fascinating glimpse into the daily operation and the unique art of the original American letterpress shop.

I was lucky enough to snag a signed copy of the Robert Plant / Alison Krauss poster shown in the video.  And one of these days I’m going to find an appropriate excuse to have them design something for me. Business card, maybe . . . ?

posted by in aesthetics, art, awesome, beauty, branding, design, graphic design, history | * | 6 comments 

comments

  1. Sheila Ryan on July 24th, 2010 at 3:14 pm

    This is great — and it offers me a good excuse to get back in touch with my friend Lauren, who is VP of Museum Services or some such at the Country Music Hall of Fame.

  2. Daryl Scroggins on July 24th, 2010 at 4:26 pm

    Thanks, Andrea–great post. This really takes me back. I ran letter presses and big sheet fed presses for years. Cleaned many ink fountains and washed lots of rollers! Now when I see all of the posters announcing the dates a band will play at some place, I will think of this Hatch press shop.

  3. Sheila Ryan on July 24th, 2010 at 4:36 pm

    That is so cool. Daryl. I’d forgotten that I knew you’d done that. I’ve only done artsy-fartsy crafty-daffy letterpress printing.

  4. Daryl Scroggins on July 24th, 2010 at 4:51 pm

    The artsy kind is much better–mine was business printing that just wore me out in every way (back still hurts when I think of lifting those large chases filled with lead type!).

  5. Deron Bauman on July 24th, 2010 at 10:01 pm

    thank you, Andrea. this is wonderful.

  6. Anna borg on October 29th, 2010 at 9:58 pm

    I’ve been to their “headquarters.” Really and musty and olde timey. Well, this was about 10 years ago, but I’m sure it hasn’t changed much.

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