2011.52.5

Rockstroh & Scheider Victoria Press, adapted for embossing braille

unknown

Louisville, KY/American Printing House for the Blind

ca. 1931

Black-and-white glossy photo mounted to gray matboard with a black border; man in apron, white shirt, necktie, and dark trousers stands facing right towards a Victoria platen press in the center of the shot, on the third floor of the 1923 western annex of the American Printing House for the Blind in Louisville, KY; two wooden three-paned sash windows are in the background with bright light shining through, shades are pulled almost completely down, a steam or hot water radiator is visible in the left background behind the press; a wooden worktable is behind the man, an electrical box labeled "Square D" is mounted to the tables front and an electric motor and drive belt for the press are visible under the table; a wooden shelf loaded with stacks of paper is in the right background; an oilcloth is tacked under the press; cast into the heavy press base is "VICTORIA/R&S/DRESDEN"; the inking apparatus has been removed and it has been adapted to emboss braille.

Photographic Paper on mat board

Photograph was recovered from APH cafe, where it and others were used as decoration for many years.
Rockstroh & Scheider was a Dresden, Germany based manufacturer of printing equipment. This Victoria press could have been manufactured 1898 or earlier and purchased by APH on the used market.