A film retrieved from 1970 tells the production story of the Sydney Morning Herald and its sister newspapers.
From the individual efforts of reporters and graphic designers, through keyboard operators to tape-driven Linotypes – with Ludlow-cast headlines (pictured) – and letterpress platemaking equipment, the process finishes with printing on a double-width Goss letterpress producing a 144-page edition at 70,000 cph, to mailroom equipment described as “the most modern in the world”.
Though blurred and with poor sound, it’s a comprehensive record of production 50 years ago, complete with some history and a glimpse of generations of Fairfax management including a young Warwick Fairfax.
The video is on the Facebook pages of the Australian Letterpress Fellowship, thanks to Gold Coast-based former mechanic George Finn reporting to the Metal Type website that he has re-posted it after it had been lost as a result of changes to the site.