Old-time Presses In A Modern World

One of these old-style print shops lies in the heart of historic Philadelphia. At Independence National Historical Park (INHP), in the Printing Office at Franklin Court, park rangers like Joe Chauncy don period garb and demonstrate how to ink a press using leather-covered mallets called "ink balls" to pound ink onto plates. Then they pull a lever called a "devil's tail" to press the paper onto the raised metal type.