Genesee Country Museum - Printing Office
The Printing Office - Built 1820-1830 - relocated 1850 - It came to the Genesee Country Village & Museum from Caledonia, NY and is now in the Antebellum Village section in the village. The two parts of the Printing Office were once separate shops along the main street of Caledonia. They were moved in 1850, and joined to a larger house. There the one served as the dining room and the other as the kitchen. The Greek Revival front portion dates from about 1835; the rear section is older, c.1820. In 2002, the Printing Office was converted to that of an abolitionist newspaper, patterned after the American Citizen, first published in Warsaw and Perry, NY. Now a little bit of history: A rural village was fortunate if there was a printer in its midst, particurlary if the printer had the temerity and energy to print a newspaper. The printer was fortunate if he gained enough subscribers to support the paper and he was particularly lucky if at least some of the subscribers paid in cash. The bargaining instinct was strong in country settings. Advertisers and subscribers alike were prone to bring the printer garden or orchard products, a chicken or maple trees in exchange for notices of a cow for sale, a horse that had strayed, a new arrival of merchandise at the store or a new line of printed cottons at the drapers. A bushel of apples, perhaps, was good for a six-months subscription to the weekly newspaper, which carried advertisements on all four pages, legislative reports, poetry, anecdotes, letters from abroad and month-old "news" and editorials reprinted from distant and foreign papers. Whether it was putting together a newspaper or printing broadsides and handbills, the printer set the type and well-worn woodcuts by hand. The printer's equipment consists of a mid-19th-century Washington type press, several cases of old typefaces and woodcuts, a proof press and many other early items gathered from area print shops. Unfortunately, the day Jim and I were there, the Printing Office was closed. I so wanted to see the old printing presses - maybe next time. The Genesee Country Village & Museum is located at 1410 Flint Hill Road (George Street) in Mumford, NY.
Genesee Country Museum - Printing Office
The Printing Office - Built 1820-1830 - relocated 1850 - It came to the Genesee Country Village & Museum from Caledonia, NY and is now in the Antebellum Village section in the village. The two parts of the Printing Office were once separate shops along the main street of Caledonia. They were moved in 1850, and joined to a larger house. There the one served as the dining room and the other as the kitchen. The Greek Revival front portion dates from about 1835; the rear section is older, c.1820. In 2002, the Printing Office was converted to that of an abolitionist newspaper, patterned after the American Citizen, first published in Warsaw and Perry, NY. Now a little bit of history: A rural village was fortunate if there was a printer in its midst, particurlary if the printer had the temerity and energy to print a newspaper. The printer was fortunate if he gained enough subscribers to support the paper and he was particularly lucky if at least some of the subscribers paid in cash. The bargaining instinct was strong in country settings. Advertisers and subscribers alike were prone to bring the printer garden or orchard products, a chicken or maple trees in exchange for notices of a cow for sale, a horse that had strayed, a new arrival of merchandise at the store or a new line of printed cottons at the drapers. A bushel of apples, perhaps, was good for a six-months subscription to the weekly newspaper, which carried advertisements on all four pages, legislative reports, poetry, anecdotes, letters from abroad and month-old "news" and editorials reprinted from distant and foreign papers. Whether it was putting together a newspaper or printing broadsides and handbills, the printer set the type and well-worn woodcuts by hand. The printer's equipment consists of a mid-19th-century Washington type press, several cases of old typefaces and woodcuts, a proof press and many other early items gathered from area print shops. Unfortunately, the day Jim and I were there, the Printing Office was closed. I so wanted to see the old printing presses - maybe next time. The Genesee Country Village & Museum is located at 1410 Flint Hill Road (George Street) in Mumford, NY.