Peabody printing museum celebrates grand reopening
Large wooden trays of type, the smell of printer's ink, the clickety-clack of the linotypes, and the rhythmic sound of the presses — all sights, sounds, and smells of a bygone era.
But the presses are rolling again in Peabody, and the Peabody Printing Museum will celebrate its grand reopening as a letterpress print shop and working museum with an open house from 2:30 to 4 p.m. Sunday.
The public is invited to stop by for tours, demonstrations, and refreshments.
Beth, Jacob, and Joshua Marshall will explain and demonstrate the printing equipment and give guests a taste of what the printing business was like before computers radically changed the industry.
The Marshalls, siblings from Pettigrew, Ark., run graphic design and letterpress printing businesses out of the museum, filling a growing demand for business and social stationery printed on old-time presses using antique typefaces.
The museum originally opened in 1998 through the efforts of longtime Peabody Gazette-Bulletin editor Bill Krause and printer Bill Jackson of Wichita.
They amassed what the Peabody Historical Society claims is one of the finest collections of working presses and antique printing equipment and publishing memorabilia in the Midwest.
"We look forward to continuing the work the two Bills started and hope to make this one of the finest working museums in the country," Beth said.
For more information about the open house or visiting the museum, call 620-983-9114.
