Virgin Wood Type Manufacturing Company

posted by Marcroy October 17, 2014

Virgin Wood Type Manufacturing Company traces back to 1932 when Rube Mandel began American Wood Type Manufacturing Co. (AWT) in NYC. Fast forward to 2001 when American Printing Equipment and Supply Co. (AWT had changed its name in 1963) stopped production of wood type and sold off its equipment and patterns. From late 2001 to 2010, AWT was dormant until the late Bill Jones and Geri McCormick purchased 100 wooden crates of patterns and an unusually large pantograph and launched Virgin Wood Type (VWT) in Rochester, NY. Bill set about to make wood type using the pantograph and at its launch, VWT sold 4 fonts made from the AWT patterns.

Sadly in November 2012, Bill succumbed to an aggressive cancer. Geri vowed to honor her husband by carrying on the tradition of making end-grain maple wood type for letterpress printers. Early on, collaborations with wood type aficionados and type designers became an important part of its DNA. Its first collaboration was with Richard Kegler of P22 Type Foundry saw the release in March 2011 of Preissig Scrape, a Czech Modernist font from early 20th century.

Bill “met” David Wolske by exchanging comments through David’s online Letterpress Daily blog, and together they launched Aldine Expanded in March 2011. Using Rob Roy Kelly’s seminal volume, American Wood Type: 1828–1900, and an incomplete font set of Aldine Expanded as a reference, David drew the vector files for Bill, who made the patterns for cutting Aldine on the pantograph into wood type. Aldine Expanded is notable for being VWT’s most-sold font.

The annual Wayzgoose at Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, USA, has been a fantastic venue for collaborations. After meeting Paul Shaw at the 2011 Wayzgoose, Bill and Geri agreed to make in wood type Shaw’s Kolo, which is an elegant and subtle depiction of the Art Nouveau style. At the 2013 Wayzgoose, Geri and Ken Barber of House Industries conceived of bringing the Ed Benguiat-designed Buffalo to the wood type universe. Originally a Photo-Lettering Inc. face, Buffalo has a natural wood type look and feel. VWT’s most recent collaboration was with David Wolske again with the revival of Hamilton’s 1889 Gothic Bold Reverse Stress.

Working with Derek Crowe and Matt Rieck, VWT has improved its manufacturing techniques and expanded its catalog to 17 fonts, plus shapes, arrows, ornaments, streamers, birds, and catchwords. Four years on, VWT continues to be dedicated to its original mission: making wood type using traditional techniques and a few updated/improvised methods.