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Update #4: Finally, Another Ludlow Project Update!

Posted on March 1
Hi Everyone! 

Sorry we are so late in updating everyone about our progress with The Ludlow Project. We really appreciate your patience. The good news is we are back on track! 

At the end of last year, just as we were ramping up production on our backer rewards, the Museum faced some critical challenges that unfortunately had to take precedence over all of our other important activities. In our time of need, the Museum's dedicated docent community came together and has been instrumental in keeping the Museum afloat. Thankfully, as the dust settles, we now have unprecedented opportunity to expand and reinvent the Museum. This includes a plan to double the amount of space available for the Museum's public gallery, and to expand the workshop space that we use for education and creative endeavors. It's an extremely exciting time for us, and we will certainly keep you updated as our progress unfolds. But rest assured, your patience has not been in vain!  

A few months ago, docents Josh, Arian and Alyssa finished the "Thank You" postcards. You can see the postcard and photos of the printing process. All type was hand cast on the Ludlow! Along with that is the first of the Ludlow Miniature Specimen prints. Docent Josh just finished designing and casting a beautiful Karnak specimen which will be printed later this month (see pics of the lockup and newsprint proof below). Docent Arian is also hard at work designing one of the other mini prints. A few of our other volunteers have decided to take on designing in Ludlow metal and are working on the rest of the specimens and posters. We will update you with photos of the process as progress is made. We promise we won't be as silent as we were before!

Fellow docent Alyssa just finished hand stenciling the Ludlow Project tees modeled after the stencil on a wood Ludlow crate found at the Museum. We're still waiting on the few women's shirts to arrive and will post more pictures soon! The women's tees are charcoal heather grey and will be stenciled with white ink. The men's shirts are a 50/50 heather brown for the dark tee and heather tan for the light tee. Check out pictures below.

Bonus update: As a direct result of our Kickstarter campaign, we were contacted by a gentleman who had found a set of original Ludlow punches—the hardened steel tools (they look a lot like type) that were used to strike the blank brass to create Ludlow matrices. Our curator, Mark, was able to negotiate a deal to acquire the punches, and we are now working to restore their boxes (unfortunately damaged in transit) so that these priceless historical treasures can be displayed proudly at the Museum. As a treat for our backers, we have photos of these punches for you to enjoy. These rare punches were saved directly from a scrap yard in Wisconsin that had the entire collection originally from Ludlow. We had been offered this very large group of punches in the early 1990s but did not have the resources to acquire them. These are probably the only surviving punches from Ludlow, as the rest of the punches in that lot were certainly scrapped 10 years ago. These six sets of punches are therefore a very important collection to add to the Museum's Ludlow collection, a preservation of an important part of American history.

Just to note: since the Museum is a non-profit organization, your Kickstarter donation is tax deductible, less the value of the rewards you receive. In preparation for tax season, our curator is working on getting your donation letters sent out so look for them in the mail. 


Love,

IPM

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      Cathy Brown on March 1

      Congratulations on your success.

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      Charlie Gibson on March 2

      Awesome update. Love the pictures

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      Brooke Condolora on March 2

      Beautiful. Congratulations on the expansion! Can't wait to come back for a visit!

Update #3: The Ludlow Project: It's reward time!

Backer_white For backers only, Posted on November 21, 2011
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Update #2: Ludlow Typography and Rewards

Posted on November 17, 2011

This past Saturday, November 12, we had an event at the International Printing Museum celebrating the history and legacy of the Ludlow Typograph. We did typecasting demos, printed with Ludlow type, and had presentations on many important aspects of the Ludlow. In case you weren't able to make it, Josh Korwin posted a synopsis of his presentation. We will be doing many other events in the future, too!

Also, we came up with a tee design this weekend! Josh found an old wooden Ludlow box in the warehouse and thought it would make a great tee. Resident stencil-expert Alyssa Zukas cut out a stencil from the original box design and prototyped it on old dirty tee. Kinda gave it that old-timey look. Don't worry, those who are getting a tee will be able to choose from our selection of new crew necks in a variety of color options. We also tried the stencil out on a white apron which turned out pretty awesome as well. Check out the pics below to see the original box design and the tees!

We're starting to prototype ideas for prints as well so stay tuned for that!

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    1. Ren march 2009 cropped.thumb
      ren vasiliev on November 17, 2011

      Nice apron! I want one!
      Ren

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      International Printing Museum on November 17, 2011

      Hey Ren,

      We're going to be making the aprons available soon... stay tuned!

Update #1: We Made it!

Posted on November 17, 2011

Hi everyone!

Thanks so much for all your support. We made our goal a few days ago and then some! All the extra support is really appreciated as well. As you may know the $11k only covers the acquisition cost of the Ludlow matrices... not travel, shipping, etc. so any more you can do would be great!

Thanks again for all your love and Long Live Letterpress!
IPM

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181
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Funding Successful

This project successfully raised its funding goal on November 19, 2011.

Pledge $1 or more Pledge $1 or more

9 Backers

Our thanks for your support and access to the catalog once it's launched online.

Estimated Delivery: Dec 2011

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51 Backers

Hand printed Ludlow letterpress thank you postcard

Estimated Delivery: Dec 2011

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55 Backers

Hand printed Ludlow letterpress thank you postcard, 5 Hand printed type specimen miniature prints

Estimated Delivery: Jan 2012

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20 Backers

Hand printed Ludlow letterpress thank you postcard, 5 Hand printed type specimen miniature prints, 1 hand cast type metal "LUDLOW" name slug

Estimated Delivery: Jan 2012

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26 Backers

Hand printed Ludlow letterpress thank you postcard, 5 Hand printed type specimen miniature prints, 1 hand cast type metal Personalized Ludlow slug or "LUDLOW" name slug, Hand-screened Ludlow Project tee, Wood mirrored Ludlow slug holder

Estimated Delivery: May 2012

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3 Backers

Hand printed Ludlow letterpress thank you postcard, 5 Hand printed type specimen miniature prints, 1 hand cast type metal Personalized Ludlow slug or "LUDLOW" name slug, Hand-screened Ludlow Project tee, Wood mirrored Ludlow slug holder, Limited Edition Kickstarter only hand printed letterpress poster printed with Ludlow type and historic woodtype and cuts

Estimated Delivery: May 2012

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2 Backers • Limited Reward (8 of 10 remaining)

Hand printed Ludlow letterpress thank you postcard, 5 Hand printed type specimen miniature prints, 1 hand cast type metal Personalized Ludlow slug or "LUDLOW" name slug, Hand-screened Ludlow Project tee, Wood mirrored Ludlow slug holder, Limited Edition Kickstarter only hand printed letterpress poster printed with Ludlow type and historic woodtype and cuts, Vintage Ludlow Font Specimen Book

Estimated Delivery: May 2012

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0 Backers • Limited Reward (15 of 15 remaining)

Hand printed Ludlow letterpress thank you postcard, 5 Hand printed type specimen miniature prints, 1 hand cast type metal Personalized Ludlow slug or "LUDLOW" name slug, Hand-screened Ludlow Project tee, Wood mirrored Ludlow slug holder, Limited Edition Kickstarter only hand printed letterpress poster printed with Ludlow type and historic woodtype and cuts, Vintage Ludlow Font Specimen Book, Personalized vintage brass ludlow matrices set and locked in a vintage steel composing stick for display

Estimated Delivery: May 2012

Pledge $2,500 or more Pledge $2,500 or more

1 Backer • Limited Reward (4 of 5 remaining)

Hand printed Ludlow letterpress thank you postcard, 5 Hand printed type specimen miniature prints, 1 hand cast type metal Personalized Ludlow slug or "LUDLOW" name slug, Hand-screened Ludlow Project tee, Wood Mirrored Ludlow Slug Holder, Limited Edition Kickstarter only hand printed letterpress poster printed with Ludlow type and historic woodtype and cuts, Vintage Ludlow Font Specimen Book, Personalized vintage brass ludlow matrices set and locked in a vintage steel composing stick for display, 10 lines of custom type cast in any font from the collection, 1 "unique-to-Ludlow" slanted drawer letterpress cabinets (great for small storage or as a flat file) OR Your name on a name plate affixed to one of our Ludlow typograph cabinets in our working collection.

Estimated Delivery: Jun 2012

Project By

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International Printing Museum

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The International Printing Museum, located in Southern California, is a dynamic non-profit museum devoted to bringing the history of books, printing and the book arts to life for diverse audiences. The staff and volunteers make it their mission to take one of the world’s most significant collections of antique printing machinery and interpret it for today’s audiences through working demonstrations and theater presentations.

Since 1988, we have reached over 400,000 people, both those visiting the Museum and those who have experienced "Museum on Wheels", the Museum’s innovative school outreach program that features a mobile colonial printing shop, teaching the history of books and printing, great inventions and inventors that helped make our world such as Ben Franklin. The International Printing Museum has been recognized worldwide for the size and importance of its collection and for the successful and creative approach to interpreting the collection for the community and the world at large.

Come visit us!
315 W. Torrance Blvd.
Carson, CA 90745
10 am to 4 pm Saturday
310-515-7166

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