Celebrate the machine that Thomas Edison called “The Eighth Wonder of the World.”

Designed by Ottmar Mergenthaler in 1885, “Linotype” literally means “line of type.” The Linotype Machine was the first machine at which a person could use a keyboard to compose a single line of type, and cast it in lead, called a “slug”. The Linotype machine revolutionized typesetting, moving the craft from laborious hand-setting individual letters, to swiftly mechanically casting an entire line of type.

Don’t miss this special chance to see our Linotype Model 31 in action, casting hot metal type! This Linotype machine, manufactured by Mergenthaler Linotype Co, dates from the 1950s. It was operated for several years at the Houston Chronicle, where as many as 35 of these machines were used to produce the daily and weekend editions. This machine was last employed commercially in the 1980s by a local typographer.

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Donate and get a line-o-type!

Amount	What you get
$25 »	1 line/slug of type
$45 »	2 lines/slugs of type
$60 »	3 lines/slugs of type

We’ll be casting type from noon to 3pm, if you would like to have YOUR OWN line of type. Your donation supports the care, preservation, and display of the Linotype machine and The Printing Museum’s mission to ignite creativity, foster tangible self-expression, and champion the history and power of print.

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Showing in the theater:

• Farewell, Etaoin Shrdlu (1978) – Filmed on July 1, 1978, this documentary by David Loeb Weiss chronicles the end of “hot type” at The New York Times — and the introduction of computers into The Times’s printing process. [29m]
• Linotype: The Film (2012) – A feature-length documentary film centered around the Linotype typecasting machine invented by Ottmar Mergenthaler in 1886. [1h 16m]

Special Event free with Museum Admission.