A Day at the printer's fair

I've been waiting for the printer's fair at San Jose History Park to happen this spring for quite some time. Over the last few years I'd heard there was a fair hosted by the San Jose Printer's Guild, but I never managed to make it. This year I actually put a note in my calendar so I wouldn't miss it.

It was awesome! So much to see! I brought the kiddos but it was tough at times. Even though there were plenty of kid-friendly events and printing demos, my 6-year-old was complaining quite a bit. Thank goodness for the hot dog truck and the promise of a choice of candy from the candy shop to keep him content. Yes, I bribe my children from time to time. My 9-year-old was much more engaged; I guess she takes after me.

For many of the vendors, printing presses are a hobby. We met Maria who came down from Santa Rosa with her printing presses. She was so good with the kids, having them make their own bookmarks.

I was surprised to see that type is still sold though what I understood from listening to other people's conversations around me, presses are no longer made.

Here are the presses at the Patrick Reagh Printers table.

Then, there was a booth with these. It's a counter, but I'm not sure how it works. I think it needs to be mounted on some kind of handle.

There was a crowd of people around and the person behind the table was too busy to talk, but she had a lot of them.

I mean, a lot of them.

She also had something else that had most of my attention:

She had a big selection of wooden type trays. I've always wanted one. I'm not sure what I want to put in it, but it's a fabulous piece for displaying on your wall. So for $15 I came home with one. I don't have any place to hang it at the moment, but that's not the point. The point is, it's mine. Yay!

I also came home with a big pile of paper ephemera that was free for the taking but donations were appreciated.  I got some lovely font type books, like this one from the San Francisco Type Foundry. The pages are a heavy card stock so will make wonderful postcards eventually.

And lastly I came home with this little "Pied-Type Necklace", made by Tin Dog Press. I love the little quilling paper heart inside.
What a fun day! I'll be back next year.