Looks like many mistakes could happen if one worker does not pay proper attention. And one small mistake can destroy an entire process. That's some serious work there :/. These men are heroes.

My dad owned a small weekly newspaper in Oregon as I was growing up in the late 1940s and 1950s. I witnessed this, except for the copper process, taking place every day as my dad and an employee worked on the linotype (the machine which made the molded letters at the beginning of the film). My job around age 10 was to sweep the floors and then by age 12, I "killed" the newspaper by removing all the type or columns and ads which wouldn't be used again the following week. This metal was melted down and used again. Eventually around age 14, I began operating the folder and finally began running the large newspaper printing press called the "cylinder" press. My dad lived to see the beginning of the home computer and marveled at similar terminologies and the attached printer. He didn't quite understand the implications of the computer for the future, however. We've come a long way since Johannes Guttenberg in 1498. Isaac Asimov called the invention of the printing press and moveable type the third communication revolution - the first being when our ancestors began talking; the second being writing. We are in the midst of the fourth communication revolution: the electronic revolution beginning with the telegraph. Where will it go? What are the implications of the electronic communication? The implications of our ancestors using language and then writing were profound and still shake our culture even today.

This trimmer was the most satisfying part to watch.

I have so much respect for those who made books in the past by adding letter for letter for each word/meaning/page BY HAND! How did they stayed motivated?

It's amazing to me how automated the binding process was even in 1947. I handbind books and make letterpress cards and this all seems very sophisticated compared to my old-er fashioned work!

Very educational how the old way did their printing. I'm sure that Mr. Guttenberg would it be proud of his humble beginning. Thanks for sharing this.

Makes you appreciate books even more.

The backstop at the end designed to bump the corners of the covers sure explains a lot! :) I really enjoyed this one.

Many lines of type for many pages: galleys Metal frame: chase Metal used to keep the pages apart: furniture This key: key and coin The form of wax used to make the copper plate was the basis for offset printing. Printing on both sides of the sheet in a single pass is called "perfecting". Folding until it reaches the size of a single page is creating a "signature"

My grandfather came to New York from Europe and found work in a book bindery. I guess this was how he spent his workdays. Wow.

That is the funniest description blurb I have ever read on KZfaq!

Aside from being very interesting (and fun!), I found this video very handy for teaching English: simple, but not too simple grammar, plenty of useful everyday phrases, all pronounced clearly and understandably. It's a great help for my students (and me).

This is great! Thank you to whole of the workers in the book's world.

after watching this video we should appreciate how much easier digital revolution made working and producing process

I'm a printer and it was very interesting to see the old way

The book is 'Banner by the Wayside' by Samuel Hopkins Adams, published by Random House in 1947.

I wish this would read to me at night. I'd be out in a minute.

these ten minutes of the video were a great break from my studying for the exams!! awesome video!!!

The most amazing thing about this video is... I watched all of it. what was I thinking???

I wonder where I could get some of those copper plates. It would be awesome to have a few pages of some of your favorite books.

wooow,thank you for uploading this video, highly helpful in my studies!

Interesting and cool video!

This was a fun watch

books should have to be really inexpensive nowadays. The old process involved a lot more workers, problems, etc. Today mostly few machines with less workers does everything and they are still expensive.

3:19 "Copper is hard." Orly? He says that in such a funny way...

This is really fascinating. It's probably easier to make books now, since we have machines, but it's probably just as costly in terms of resources needed (not the manpower/manual labor to pay the workers, since a lot of the steps most likely have robots/computers doing the more simpler things that men or women used to do to make a book).

How its made back in the day!!!!

Such a long process! I like the trimmers part, it looks like they are cutting cheese =p

@jetsonjoe They'd have melted the plates down once the print run was finished, to be reused for new books (thus why prints were a limited edition thing--they'd have to retype the plates to reprint it).

amazing vid.. thanks

Impressive.

Impresionante...

I am the Ready Man!

@gentlefury I'd say it's tedious or monotonous but hardly boring work. You get bored cutting those plates and you'll lose a finger.

Qué belleza de video.

PRICELESS!!!

@darksofa They didn't always melt them down and they do turn up on the antiques market. I've seen them mostly for illustrations and for very old books.

Metal goes in, books comes out.. U can't explain dat!

Also on KZfaq..... Search for "Print on demand". It's laser jet that spits out soft covered books! The plan was a bookstore would print the book you purchased in the store!

Never know how hard is to make a book...

@kenticser Well, it was filmed for the Encyclopedia Britannica. What did you expect?

We have it easy now !!!

Better-quality video available at Internet Archive, from where this video comes.

@ableite That's because cost is determined by demand, not cost of production.

Back then people didn't need to be babied into their work like now a days. Now a days, you need instructions even on how to put on your pants.

Random, yet pretty interesting :-)

There are actually still letterpress companies that do this. Mass distribution is all computerized now, but you can find smaller letterpress companies that do it with old Kluges and such. It's an amazing process and really interesting...but man its boring work!

+ron johnson I think this may actually be th 5th communication revolution.

they didn't cut the plates in straight lines. this is probably why many old books always have the text in an angle in pages.

love

Almost like "How It's Made"

@hanamaho Yeah, machines are replacing workers now, lol.

Wow. now imagine if a writer forgot to insert a paragraph :D. Just do the entire thing over :)

@stormshaman I'm guessing you aren't an economist. Of course it's fine to charge whatever you like. However, costs are as important as demand to determine the prices, because the firms have more profits lowering the prices to increase the quantity: the optimal "price-quantity" choice is changed, the lower the costs the lower the prices, the higher the quantity, the higher the resulting profits. If this isn't happening as much as expected, the firms are having a cartel. Illegal stuff.

They also didn't have cell phones in their face 24/7 and didn't have to hear it from people in other countries on youtube. lol

I wish MST3K would do this vid

This video makes me feel terrible... I work in a book bindery now, in 2011, that is less technological than the old factory in this video. I wish I had machines like that to do the work for me.

I'm struck by the lack of safety equipment. Circular saw with no cover, guy messing with electrolytes with no goggles... and the one guy sticking his entire body IN a printing press. Don't hit the "START" button, unless you want a printing in red!

There's a song that samples the intro to this video. Anyone know what it is?

It’s easier now right??

Notice not one person in that factory was obese. That's what Americans looked like in ancient times.

this voice looks like jimmy stewart

From the author's typewriter straight to the book factory!!?? I think a few steps are missing... Proofreading.... Editing.... Getting someone to pay the factory before the books were sold. Sorry about the quality of my comment.... Typed on my iPad.

Make you respect Laser printer much more

@jstypo *I'm* not slamming the system. I think it's fine to charge what people are willing to pay for something.

guess they didn't know about CTRL + P back then... :\

that is why the unemployment rate so high in US now!!!

and even after all that North American labour, people STILL paid like 10 cents for one of those back then. oh inflation...

LOL, "girls".

1947 I believe

@stormshaman Everything to increase profit.

@KEEPINGAGOODHEART yow! so sad the show had to come to an end :'(

:)

@alansmisclass was that comment really necessary? and beside, that has nothing to do with the video.

who else got sent here by tobin?

Back when the economy was doing great

Gosh, it's amazing our human culture wasn't seriously retarded by the huge potential of error in that process and the publication of endless volumes of nonsense.

this is so hot!!!!!

@stormshaman yeah dude, reap the benefits while slamming the system, offer no alternatives but more blah, blah, blah, the world continues to go round.

Hi I’m 11 this was made the I was born

Fun ?

I studied graphic arts (printing) decades ago. I've done all of this. It was awesome, retro, and, today, totally worthless.

and this was why only the rich, privileged and educated could afford to read back then. more so if you go further back in history.

0:21

@ableite That's how capitalism works.

what a waste of metal...good thing we are all digital production now...

WOW, no fat people.....

Makes you appreciate books even more.