by John Howells and Marion Dearman
(Discovery Press, copyright 1996, 2003)

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Traveling Printers

Rarely if ever in the history of work and labor has a group of craftsmen enjoyed as much freedom, dignity, and mobility as those engaged in the art of printing.

From the very beginning, starting with the introduction of movable type by Johann Gutenberg in the 15th century, the notion of  “journeyman” embedded itself in the curriculum of learning to be a printer. To properly master the art of printing—after finishing several years of apprenticeship—it was almost obligatory to journey from one shop to another, from one town to another, even between countries.

From the earliest times, the art of printing enabled a worker to go anywhere in the world he pleased. His knowledge of printing secrets and mastery of techniques of printing skills were transferable to any printing office, anywhere in the world. A newly trained journeyman printer could easily find work another master printer or—with minimal investment—could establish his own printing shop and become a master printer himself. His most valuable capital was his skill and knowledge of the art of printing, secrets which were jealously guarded among fellow journeymen printers.

Demand for the printed word increased geometrically with the proliferation of this technology. Jobs and opportunities expanded with each new printshop established. Printers knew they were in demand and were tempted to change jobs frequently, knowing they could travel from place to place with ease, that their skills were always in demand.

Our book Tramp Printers  focuses therefore, upon just one aspect of the printing trade, one which disappeared with the advent of computer technology: the traveling typesetter or "tramp printer." We examine the historic mobility of printers over the past century and a half, and try to document the carefree lifestyle of tramp printers who moved from coast to coast, and from border to border, working for newspapers and printing offices throughout the country. We look at personalities such as Rabbit Ormand, “Gulf Coast” Guy Foley, Sam Ball, Sunshine Wilson and Big Marie Emory. These names are meaningless to most people, but to old-time printers, they are legendary. Few personalities in this book are still alive at time of publication, but all deserve to be remembered.

Eventually, with the funeral of the last of these tramp printers or “knights of the road,” as they liked to call themselves, traditions and memories will dissolve. Therefore, we dedicated our book to recording  experiences of those traveling journeyman printers who earned their living over the past five centuries through the ancient art of typography.