Food packaging and labeling has changed so much through the years. Part of our collection consists of classic American food advertisement blocks of the past. With the digital age it is very easy to manipulate and change labels or advertisements on a daily basis. Computers and printers spit out labels on huge rolls or sheets to feed monstrous machines in a mass production line. Colors can be changed and added with the simple task of data input. Graphics can be changed at the click of a button. The output is unlimited and revisions to labeling designs are continuous and relatively inexpensive.
In the past, a company would have to hire an advertisement professional to draw a custom design by hand. Once the design was approved and purchased, the design would be sent out to printing shop to have the advertisements printed. The printing shops used a letterpress printing press that required .918” tall printer’s blocks to layout the printed document. Until the introduction of the linotype machine in the late 19th century, many companies would stay with text ads that required only foundry type letters, aka movable type, since each individual letter had to be set by hand to form the words. If a graphic were required with the text, the printing shop would send out the design and have a graphic printer’s block made. The block manufacturer would etch the image into a metal plate, or in earlier times, the image would be manually carved onto a solid wood block. The graphic or logo print block could be placed along side foundry type to make the completed advertisement.

A relief block would use the original surface to hold the graphic. The area around the graphic would be etched out or removed to leave the raised surface to be printed. Ink is applied to the raised area and it is ready for printing. The second style was intaglio, which would have the recessed areas of the block printed. The entire surface of the block is inked. The ink on the surface is then wiped away and the paper would be forced into the recessed areas to pick up the ink. This required more pressure than the standard relief printing method, as well as additional backing material to aid the paper in reaching the recessed areas.

Some of the gorgeous old fruit and vegetable crate labels would have been printed with a Lithography process. A press would be used to transfer the image. However the image is not made with a printer’s block. The reverse image would be drawn onto a smooth stone surface with a set of greasy pencils or crayons. It was a very laborious task that would require the work of a talented artist. Once the image was complete, the printer would roll the surface with water. The water would repel from the oil-based drawing and prevent the ink from smearing. An oil-based ink is then applied to the surface and that would adhere to the greasy image created by the artist.

An absorbent sheet of paper is then placed on the stone, over the inked surface. The stone is transferred to a press that would apply light pressure to transfer the image. For images that required multiple colors, the printed-paper would be accurately applied (registered) to the next stone to insure they images lined up. Then it would be processed through these steps until all colors where complete. This multi-color process is referred to as Chromolithography. This is the same method they would use to create newspapers with color pages. The entire process works on the principles of the repulsion between grease and water

Another method used in later years was Offset Lithography. With offset work, the image would be correct reading and then applied to a rubber-surfaced cylinder. The image on the rubber cylinder would now be wrong reading and ready to print the finished positive image on paper. Today lithographs are made using new materials such as glass, sheet metal, or plastic sheets.

There were other methods used to create a printed item but hopefully the above helps to clarify some of them. You can view some of our classic advertisement printers blocks here.