Accession Number: 2004.134.49.156
Description: Black-and-white glossy shows an American Printing House for the Blind employee as she stands at an open clamshell press, inserting a sheet of braille paper between braille embossing plates. Stacks of paper are visible in the background. Red pencil notations in bottom margin. On reverse, handwritten in pencil: "Do not use without permission from Monsanto Magazine." Photo was published in the October 1959 issue of Monsanto Magazine with caption: "On Braille press, damp paper in inserted between embossed steel [zinc] leaves ...."
Medium: Photographic Paper
Print Size: 10" (h) x 8" (w)
Date: ca. 1959
Photographer: Walsh, Jack (Monsanto Magazine)
History/Provenance: The photographic print was sent to Finis Davis, superintendent of the American Printing House for the Blind, from Monsanto Chemical Company in 1959. It was one of eight photos included in an article, "Substitutes for Sight," by George N. Reynolds, published in the October 1959 issue of Monsanto Magazine. Universal/Colts Armory platen presses manufactured by Thomson-National became known at APH as "clamshell presses," and were adapted for braille use by removing all their inking mechanisms.
Credit Line: (see provenance)
Subjects: Braille Embossing (Printing) Manufacturing processes
