|
The United States Constitution was honored Thursday night for its 220 years of service, brought about by the invention of the printing press.
The Crandall Historical Printing Museum of Provo held its fourth annual recognition banquet, which is centered around important historical events that required the printing press. Honorees in past years included Benjamin Franklin and those involved in the compilation of the scriptures used by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Lewis Crandall said he believes it is important to understand the history of the printing press and the effect it had on the entire world. "When printing was invented, people could print whatever they wanted, and it brought the world out of the Dark Ages virtually overnight," he said. The yearly celebration is a fundraiser with auctions to keep the downtown Provo printing-press museum up and running. Thursday evening, attendees were treated to a dinner with an oration from none other than George Washington, portrayed by Bryce Chamberlain. The guests also had the unique opportunity to obtain a copy of the first page of the Constitution, printed in the newspaper the Pennsylvania Packet and Daily Advertiser. The page was printed on an exact replica of Benjamin Franklin's press, which was built with blueprints provided by the Smithsonian. Crandall said the copies of the Constitution made at the banquet are special because they use the same type as was used to print the Constitution in the newspaper originally. The type was made by a man in West Virginia using the same punches that made the type 220 years ago, he said. To his knowledge, Crandall said the museum is the only place for which the man has made the type. "Right here in Provo, we have type that is made from the same punches, and we don't think anybody else in the world has got it," he said. The copies were also printed on handmade paper from the Czech Republic, and Crandall said they are as close to the original as possible. "This is exactly the way the public received that 220 years ago," he said. Wallace Saling, historical printer and tour guide at the museum, inked and readied the press and helped attendees pull the lever to press their own copy. Saling was a printer for 52 years, and he said modern printers aren't much different from Gutenberg's; they're just more advanced. John Woolf, who volunteered for the event in colonial garb, told entranced listeners all about old presses, including phrases that are derived from them. "Mind your p's and q's" comes from the way typesetters placed the type backwards, and it was difficult to tell them apart. "Upper case" and "lower case," he said, refers to the cases that held the letters before they were placed, and the capital letters were stored in the upper half of the case. Provo Mayor Lewis Billings attended the event and said the museum is a great cause to support in the city. The museum is run entirely on donations and receives no taxpayer money, he said. It is an entirely grass-roots effort, and it is a great way to teach kids about their history and what brought society to where it is now. "The museum has been a really great place for kids," he said. "I know there are probably hundreds and hundreds of kids that probably didn't know about upper and lower case. It's little things like that." Annette Evans, a Provo resident, brought her school-age children to the event after her father was impressed with the museum during a visit last year. Evans said she enjoyed the different colonial items on display, and she believes they can be a great learning tool for her kids. "They get a hands-on look at history," she said. "They get a hands-on look at what they learn in books." |
