Tabletop presses

Examples of table top presses. Left: A Pilot press made by the Chandler & Price Company. These presses were sold to schools, churches, funeral homes, and others to print business cards, small forms, programs, announcements, etc. The company was formed in the 1880s when William T. Price, a mechanic, and Harrison T. Chandler, an investor, formed a company in Cleveland, Ohio, for the production of floor-model jobber presses. Pilot presses are one of the best table top presses ever made. Right: Kelsey Excelsior press. In 1872, William Kelsey, a Meriden, Connecticut native, introduced what would soon become America's most popular table top printing press. As an observant salesman, Kelsey soon realized a small printer would need a source of paper, ink and type, which he was more than happy to furnish through his mail order catalog department. He avoided the use of the words amateur and hobbyist in his advertising, promoting instead the idea of starting one's own money making printing business. His company continued to grow until offset printing and copiers replaced the need for the small letterpress printer in the early 1970s. The presses are both on display in the Print Shop at History Park.