Existing comment:
The Printing Trade:
The craft of printing demanded the mental dexterity and coordination to compose type, combined with hard physical labor. Printers would work up a sweat pulling the press, ink beating, or carrying heavy cases of lead type. Added to that were the distinctive smells of wet paper, printer's ink, and urine, which was used to soften the ink balls.
Despite the physical labor involved, printing was a time-honored craft that often attracted literate, ambitious young men. Most received their training as apprentices, working for master printers from about age 12 until they turned 21. As journeymen, they were then free to work for wages or establish their own printing offices, if they had financial backing. |