sacramentohistorymuseum

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On April 27, 1791, Samuel Morse was born. Morse developed in the 1830s what became known as Morse Code, the primary language used in the transmission of messages using an electric telegraph machine.

The telegraph, using Morse Code, is intimately tied to the development of Sacramento starting in the 1850s. In 1854, the Alta Telegraph Company built a telegraph line between Sacramento and Nevada City. Other lines started to connect Sacramento to other cities in California. On October 24, 1861, the first transcontinental telegraph message was transmitted to Sacramento, ending the Pony Express overland mail service two days later. California was finally able to receive news from the east coast within hours rather than 10 days by the Pony Express.

Construction of the transcontinental telegraph line began July 4, 1861 in Missouri. The nearly $500,000 project was largely made possible by the passing of the Telegraph Act of 1860. The telegraph made Sacramento the hub for communication between California and the eastern United States. California newspapers became more up to date on national news as well.

For today, Jared typeset SACRAMENTO in 36 point Cheltenham Bold Italic font. Luckily, the typecase had enough dashes and periods. This was printed with black rubber base ink using our Washington hand press.

#on this day #history #museum #sacramento #art #letterpress #printing #old sacramento #asmr #printmaking #typography

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April 17th is National Banana Day! This day is dedicated to the yellow (when ripe) fruit.

While we don’t have a cut in our print shop exhibit specifically about bananas, we do have one that contains them! For today, Howard letterpress printed an electrotype (copy of a woodcut) from the Lewis Winter Collection that was made about 125-130 years ago. This cut, which is in the shape of a circle, contains a woman (maybe Minerva) surrounded by tropical fruit.

Considering Lewis Winter submitted in the early 1890s many engravings for competition at the California State Fair, which was operated by the California State Agricultural Society, that could explain why he made this cut. This was printed with black rubber base ink using our Washington hand press.

#banana #history #museum #sacramento #art #letterpress #printing #old sacramento #asmr #printmaking

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April 15th is World Art Day! Go out and appreciate or make some art today!

With this said, are the things we letterpress print for some of our videos considered art? For today, Alex letterpress printed an electrotype, made about 125-130 years ago, from the Lewis Winter Collection. The print depicts a young individual painting some artwork. The text below the image is 30 point Caslon font and reads, “Happy World Art Day!”This was printed with black rubber base ink using our Washington hand press.

Lewis Winter was a woodcut artist and engraver, who had his business at 627 J Street from 1888 to 1910. After closing his business, he would go on to teach art at Sacramento High School until 1925. Lewis Winter passed away in January 1930. The Lewis Winter Collection was donated to the Center for Sacramento History in 2000 by Bill Gaylord, a former museum docent at the Sacramento History Museum. Within the collection are boxes of woodcuts, electrotypes, and halftones made 110 to 135 years ago that we print for some of our videos.

#history #museum #sacramento #art #worldartday #letterpress #printing #printmaking

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Winter is officially over, at least according to the calendar, and spring has arrived! For the start of spring, Jared typeset and letterpress printed “SPRING IS HERE!” using Balloon Extra Bold 60 point font. This was printed with black rubber base ink using our Washington hand press.

#spring #spring is here #typography #history #museum #sacramento #art #letterpress #old sacramento #asmr #printing #oddly satisfying #printmaking

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March 15th is the Ides of March. It is on this day in 44 BC that Julius Caesar, the emperor of Rome, was assassinated.

For today, Jared letterpress printed the last words of Caesar. While we truly don’t know Caesar’s last words, the quote “Et tu, Brute?”appears in Act 3 Scene 1 of William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, where it is spoken by Caesar to his friend Marcus Junius Brutus, upon recognizing him as one of the assassins.

The phrase “Et tu, Brute?” was typeset in 30 point Engravers Old English font. This was printed with black rubber base ink using a 3x5 Kelsey Excelsior tabletop printing press.

#julius caesar #ides of march #et tu brute #history #museum #sacramento #art #letterpress #printing #asmr #oddly satisfying #printmaking #old sacramento

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March is Women’s History Month and the first newspaper in the United States that was edited by and published for women was called “The Lily.” Published monthly in Seneca Falls, New York, the driving force behind The Lily was Amelia Bloomer.

While the newspaper initially focused on spreading ideals of temperance, it soon broadened its attention to include many women’s rights issues of the time including suffrage and clothing reform. Circulation of the paper grew as discussions of a certain clothing outfit were published and popularized by Amelia Bloomer called “bloomers.”

The distribution of The Lily rose from 500 printed copies per month to 4,000 per month because of the bloomers dress reform controversy. The newspaper moved to different locations and had different owners from 1853 until The Lily published its final edition on December 15, 1856.

In this video, Jared discusses the history of The Lily and letterpress prints “THE LILY” using 15 line wood type made by the Hamilton Wood Type Company in the 1880s. This was printed with black rubber base ink using our Washington hand press, which is a very similar press that would have been used to print the newspaper.

#women’s history month #history #museum #sacramento #art #letterpress #printing #asmr #printmaking #typography #women’s history #newspaper

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In our print shop exhibit at the Sacramento History Museum, we like to discuss history while letterpress printing. However, sometimes we like to just highlight the sounds of the printing process.

In this video, Jared letterpress printed an image depicting the first printing press in what would later become the United States, which was Stephen Daye’s wooden common press from 1639. This was printed in green rubber base ink using a 3x5 Kelsey Excelsior tabletop printing press. 70 prints were made during this press run.

These are prints we hand out to visitors when they stop by our print shop and mention they watch our videos. Quite frankly, we hand these out to anyone!

#history #museum #sacramento #old sacramento #art #letterpress #printing #asmr #oddly satisfying #printmaking #SacHistoryMuseum

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We have officially reached a viewership level that has never been obtained by another museum before! All of us at the Sacramento History Museum are in disbelief.

We would have never thought that our institution, a small nonprofit museum in Sacramento, California, could reach this many views, but we are incredibly thankful for all of those who take the time to watch our videos and for your support.

In this video, Howard letterpress printed a headline announcing “Sacramento History Museum Reaches One Billion Video Views On YouTube” while using our Washington hand press, which was manufactured in 1852!

#museum #history #sacramento #old sacramento #art #letterpress #printing #asmr #typography #youtube #printmaking

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With 2023 ending very soon, we wanted to remind you to stay classy!

In this video, Jared demonstrates letterpress printing greeting cards in dark pink rubber base ink, which is a mix of rhodamine red and opaque white ink. This press run involved printing 50 cards using a 3x5 Kelsey Excelsior tabletop printing press.

The electrotype (copy of a woodcut) of the very fashionable lady was made about 125-130 years ago and is from the Lewis Winter Collection. The type “Stay classy!” is 30 point Cloister Black font. The back of the card includes an image of a Washington hand press and the words “Printed at the Sacramento History Museum.” This card and other cards are available in our Museum Store!

#letterpress #printing #art #sacramento #museum #asmr #oddly satisfying #history #old sacramento #pink #greeting cards #printmaking

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November 21st is World Hello Day! The purpose of today is to illustrate the importance of personal communication for preserving peace.

For today, Howard letterpress printed using the largest wood type (30 line pica) that we have in our print shop exhibit. This is, indeed, the biggest HELLO we can print. This was printed in red oil base ink using our Washington hand press, which was made in 1852.

#history #museum #hello #hello tumblr #sacramento #old sacramento #art #letterpress #printing #asmr #oddly satisfying #typography

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We wouldn’t say that we are on the hunt for new cuts in our print shop at the Sacramento History Museum, but we sometimes come across ones when antique shopping! Recently, Alex was shopping at a local thrift store and found three cuts for letterpress printing.

Since Alex found the cuts, Alex letterpress printed these using our Washington hand press, which was made in 1852. The three cuts depict a portion of a painting company logo, a Chevrolet Corvette logo, and a football. These three cuts are of different heights and conditions so getting a clear print of all three at the same time is pretty difficult.

#history #museum #sacramento #thrifstorefinds #thrifting #old sacramento #art #letterpress #printing

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This video is for all the fans of the Beam Team! The NBA season has started and we here at the Sacramento History Museum are, of course, rooting for the home team! In honor of the season underway, Jared letterpress printed something for the Sacramento Kings.

In this video, Jared printed cards in purple rubber base ink using a 3x5 Kelsey Excelsior tabletop press. This electrotype of a basketball clearly shows its age because basketballs stopped having laces in the late 1930s. The text “GO KINGS” and “Light the beam!” was set in 30 point Caslon font.

If you visit the Sacramento History Museum and mention this video, you’ll get this print! (While supplies last)

#letterpress #printing #sacramento #museum #history #art #asmr #old sacramento #oddly satisfying #nba #nba basketball #sacramento kings #basketball

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We are starting to build up a variety of different greeting cards available in our museum store! This is a greeting card…literally. In this video, Jared letterpress printed greeting cards in a mix of reflex blue and opaque white rubber base ink.

This press run involved printing 40 cards using a 3x5 Kelsey Excelsior tabletop printing press. The front of the card was printed using an electrotype of the word “Greetings” and a small stagecoach. The back of the card includes an image of a Washington hand press and the words “Printed at the Sacramento History Museum.”

#history #museum #sacramento #art #asmr #greeting cards #old sacramento #letterpress #oddly satisfying #printmaking #printing

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We’ve been sharing throughout this month, for the lead up to Halloween, some of the odd, strange, absurd, and creepy cuts from the Lewis Winter Collection. Due to the popularity of these prints, Jared decided to print more copies.

In this video, Jared printed two different electrotypes (copies of woodcuts) that Lewis Winter designed in the 1890s. The first is of a frog riding a penny farthing bicycle and the second print depicts two kids misusing a grindstone. We don’t know why Lewis Winter made these about 130 years ago, but the second print is certainly one of the stranger and most absurd cuts in his collection.

This press run of 60 copies of each print was made with green rubber base ink using a 3x5 Kelsey Excelsior tabletop printing press. These prints are now for sale, as part of a bundle with 3 other prints, in our museum store and website!

#museum #letterpress #printing #sacramento #asmr #history #halloween #oddly satisfying #old sacramento #art #printmaking

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With the lead up to Halloween, Zoey shares some of the creepy items currently on display at the Sacramento History Museum.

#museum #sacramento #history #artifact #old sacramento #916 #halloween #creepy doll

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Mixing and rolling out bright purple rubber base ink in preparation for letterpress printing. This ink was made from mixing opaque white and purple rubber base ink.

The goal of the rolling process is to get an even thin layer of ink on the brayer and in the galley tray. The extra ink to the right in the video is “the fountain” and it will be rolled out as we print throughout the day.

This was the best we could get to ​⁠​⁠​⁠Sacramento Kings purple. The NBA season has begun!

#asmr #oddly satisfying #sacramento #museum #letterpress #printing #history #art #purple

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This post made us create a Tumblr account!

Source: Sacramento History Museum