Welcome to the online version of the Parker Pad & Printing museum.
Since its inception in 1946, Parker Pad has been managed by members of the Parker family. We’re proud of our heritage, and maintain a collection of our original equipment that many visitors find quite interesting. You’re invited to come visit our museum, and take a look back at the history of printing in Canada.
The Perfected Prouty #2035
The Boston Printing Press and Machinery Company of Boston, Massachusetts manufactured the Perfected Prouty, invented by George W. Prouty. The patent dates on this press are from April 6, 1886 to August 7, 1888. It is also known as a platen jobber and was intended for short-run “job work” such as posters, notices, bill heads, sheets of tickets and small newsletters.
The press was simple to transport and required little space. It was a relatively simple mechanism by today’s standards - operated by a foot treadle, each sheet of paper was printed with “lead” type that had been set letter by letter for each page, and then removed. Run continuously by one person, the jobber could produce 1,000 to 1,500 impressions per hour.
The Rouse Miterer #12375
Manufactured by H.B. Rouse & Company, Chicago, this typesetting tool was used for making corners on lead or rule strips. The miter added an angle where two pieces joined in the creation of frames and borders.
The Golding Lead & Rule
In 1869, William Hughson Golding of Boston set up shop as a supplier to printers. Golding made and sold a complete line of presses, stocked type, and sold composing sticks and Lead & Rule cutters. Typographers used these to cut their own strips of brass or metal-type, which were used for leading between lines of type.
Hamilton Mfg. Co. Type Case Rack
Wood type production at Hamilton Manufacturing began in 1880 and continued through the early 1980’s. Located at Two Rivers, Wisconsin, by 1900 it was the largest manufacturer of wood type in the United States.
Case racks were usually made of oak with orange shellac finish, flat topped or slant topped. They had 20 single drawers with the HAMILTON MFG. CO. logo embossed on the handles. Wood, and later metal type, was organized in each drawer. Our collection includes four case racks circa 1940.
Tubbs Mfg. Co. Type Case Rack
The original wooden type was designed/manufactured by Charles Henry Tubbs in the 19th century and manufactured in Ludington, Michigan. Cabinets had 20 drawers and the logo is embossed on each handle.
Type Specimen Books
Published by type foundries to demonstrate the range and quality of their work, they typically showed typefaces in a range of sizes, a short sentence repeated in all fonts, and a sample block of text copy.
The Moore Type Foundry Ltd., Toronto
Dating from July 1, 1955, this catalogue contains 110 pages of fonts, rules, special characters, signs, and fractions. It is cerlox bound, and printed in black and white.
The Moore Type Foundry Ltd., Toronto
The June 1, 1973 catalogue has 110 pages of fonts, rules, special characters, signs, and fractions, and is cerlox bound and printed black and white.
Service Linotyping Co., Toronto
This undated 63-page catalogue of fonts, rules, special characters, and signs is cerlox bound and printed black and white.
Rapid Typesetting Co. Ltd., Toronto
The January 1, 1967 edition, containing 57 pages of fonts, tabbed sections, rules, special characters, signs, and fractions, cerlox bound, and printed black and white.
Hugh R. Haughton Typesetting Co. Ltd., Toronto
Undated, with 35 pages of fonts, rules, special characters, and signs, collated in a binder, and printed black and white.
Howarth & Smith Ltd., Toronto
This undated catalogue contains 51 pages of fonts, tabbed sections, rules, special characters, signs, and fractions, is cerlox bound, with black and white text and colour tabs.
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