The cover of the Metal Print Craft brochure showing the placement of the embossed metal emblem.
Creative Commons LicenseJeremy Norman Collection of Images - Creative Commons
The cover of the Metal Print Craft brochure showing the placement of the embossed metal emblem.
First page of the Metal Print Craft brochure showing how Grammes integrated the history with their current products
Creative Commons LicenseJeremy Norman Collection of Images - Creative Commons
First page of the Metal Print Craft brochure showing how Grammes integrated the history with their current products. The note at the bottom of the page briefly explained the processes involved.
Reference to the earliest printing in Mesopotamia by stamping into clay bricks before they were fired appears on the left page of this spread.
Creative Commons LicenseJeremy Norman Collection of Images - Creative Commons
Reference to the earliest printing in Mesopotamia by stamping into clay bricks before they were fired appears on the left page of this spread.
Creative Commons LicenseJeremy Norman Collection of Images - Creative Commons
The General Sales Manager's Letter presenting this copy contains some telling and even humorous typographical errors in the quotation he copied from the brochure in the first paragraph of his
Creative Commons LicenseJeremy Norman Collection of Images - Creative Commons
The General Sales Manager's Letter presenting this copy contains some telling and even humorous typographical errors in the quotation he copied from the brochure in the first paragraph of his letter. Instead of the "spirit of pride" he wrote "sprit of price" relating, of course, to his preoccupation with selling the product.
Detail map of Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States Overview map of Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States

A: Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States

L.F. Grammes & Sons Promotes Stamping and Printing on Metal Via the Beginning of Printing in Ancient Mesopotamia

1926 to to 7/18/1927
Enlargement to show detail of embossed metal emblem of a scribe writing a manuscript published by L. G. Grammes & Sons in 1926.
Creative Commons LicenseJeremy Norman Collection of Images - Creative Commons
Enlargement to show detail of embossed metal emblem of a scribe writing a manuscript published by L. G. Grammes & Sons in 1926.
In 2021 I purchased a 20-page brochure entitled Metal Print Craft issued in 1926 by L. F. Grammes & Sons, of Allentown, PA. I was drawn to this brochure by the beautiful metal medallion glued to its cover. When I read through the brochure I was surprised to find that the brochure incorporated references to history of printing with references to its beginning with the stamping onto bricks in Mesopotamia. The company described their work as "the art of reproducing messages, names, numbers, trade-marks, ornaments, designs and the like on Brass, Copper, Aluminum, Zin, Nickel-Silver, Steel, Iron, Tin, etc." This they accomplished through printing, etching, engraving, embossing, stamping, casting, etc.

Timeline Themes

Printing by Machine
Printing by Handpress or by Hand
Printing on Packaging & Non-Book Materials