In doing some sorting I found this draft from over a decade ago. It’s a shot of a pressroom monitor I took from when I worked at The Washington Post. It’s from the Maryland plant where there were 4 press lines. Pressrooms are dirty places. Even with enclosed control rooms.

I worked on a press in the 70s and it was all out in the open. Started flying papers off the folder and then learned how to do roll changes, brake adjustments, plate changes, operate the forklift and clamp trucks, unload trailers of fresh paper and eventually getting to set water/ink/speed. Very little temperature or humidity control so it was always a challenge to keep the presses running without web breaks. There was lint everywhere and ink on most exposed skin.

It was never full-time gig out there. I worked in the Engraving department, but they were always short-staffed or had issues with the old press and missed deadlines. It was overtime most of the time so that was great. And if the old timers could get someone at 20 to do the heavy lifting, they could work with that. Learned a lot about printing climbing around that jungle gym. I was a 9-unit Goss Suburban. 4 on one end and 5 units stacked on the other side that we ran color and larger editions.

That first job in newspapers I work the longest average hours per week, longer hours in one stretch more times and physically harder than at any job since. It was a great experience and the knowledge I gained there was incredible. It was a nightmare at times and the best of times. I still have a very good friend from that over 5 decades later.

So, here’s to an art, craft and science that is fading from existence. The Pressman. A group of people doing a tough physical job that requires a lot of skills. You usually are working rotating shift because a lot of newspapers print at night. They keep those presses running at other times, but the bulk is in the evenings in most cases. You always had my respect. It was a little more dangerous, physical and dirty in the old days but it’s still a hard job even today.

Just an FYI. The downtown plant closed a year after I started there. The College Park MD printing plant this monitor was from, closed in 2009/2010, and the last remaining printing plant of the originals in Springfield I hear will close at the end of this year.