From Byron Sykes, Louisville, KY:
After reading the March issue about how the Ziegler was founded, I'd be curious to know if a braille press was set up in New York to produce the magazine.
[Editor's Note: Yes--we quickly acquired and set up a braille press in New York City in September 1907, according to the following excerpt from our history, A Most Noble Benefaction:
By 1907, Walter Holmes, the editor, had determined that the best way to produce large quantities of embossed pages would be to modify a regular rotary printing press--remember he was a newspaper man. He had ascertained that such modifications were feasible, but could not be completed in time for the first issue of the Ziegler. By summer of 1907, the magazine had purchased one press, and a second press was bought that September along with machinery to bind the magazine. This equipment was installed in the magazine's first home on Manhattan's Eighth Avenue and 53rd Street, where a four-room loft was rented.
The Ziegler Magazine's embossing plant was by far the largest in the world. One estimate indicated that it could turn out in one day as much work as would require 320 men and 140 machines by the methods then used in England. Indeed, if the English method had been used to produce the Ziegler, a single month's edition would have kept two men and one machine busy for two years. The magazine was revolutionary not only in its conception, but also in its manufacturing techniques.
At first, raised-dot reading materials could be embossed on only one side of the page, since there was no way to emboss dots on the second side without crushing the first set of dots. This remained true in the United States until the 1920's. But as early as 1914 the Ziegler plant had constructed ingenious machinery for two-sided (interpoint) printing that halved the bulk of each monthly issue. While the dots produced were not of a high enough quality to be used for books, they were perfectly suited to something as ephemeral as a magazine.]
[Editor's Note: Yes--we quickly acquired and set up a braille press in New York City in September 1907, according to the following excerpt from our history, A Most Noble Benefaction:
By 1907, Walter Holmes, the editor, had determined that the best way to produce large quantities of embossed pages would be to modify a regular rotary printing press--remember he was a newspaper man. He had ascertained that such modifications were feasible, but could not be completed in time for the first issue of the Ziegler. By summer of 1907, the magazine had purchased one press, and a second press was bought that September along with machinery to bind the magazine. This equipment was installed in the magazine's first home on Manhattan's Eighth Avenue and 53rd Street, where a four-room loft was rented.
The Ziegler Magazine's embossing plant was by far the largest in the world. One estimate indicated that it could turn out in one day as much work as would require 320 men and 140 machines by the methods then used in England. Indeed, if the English method had been used to produce the Ziegler, a single month's edition would have kept two men and one machine busy for two years. The magazine was revolutionary not only in its conception, but also in its manufacturing techniques.
At first, raised-dot reading materials could be embossed on only one side of the page, since there was no way to emboss dots on the second side without crushing the first set of dots. This remained true in the United States until the 1920's. But as early as 1914 the Ziegler plant had constructed ingenious machinery for two-sided (interpoint) printing that halved the bulk of each monthly issue. While the dots produced were not of a high enough quality to be used for books, they were perfectly suited to something as ephemeral as a magazine.]
posted by Matilda Ziegler at
2:04 AM
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