master printer (title)?

I’ll stick my neck out and give my opinion.

In ealier times there was a whole system for training printers and compositors. One started at the bottom and worked their way up through a fairly well-defined methodology. It usually took many years to work your way up, and one of the terms I recall was “journeyman.”

I would assume that somewhere at the top of the heap was the title “master printer” and that it was duly earned over a long period of time with a disciplined development of specific skill sets.

I sometimes literally cringe when I hear certain people describe themselves as “master printers” when in reality they know just barely enough to be dangerous. The ultimate audacity simply amazes me.

Here in the UK, in the 40s the title was used normally by the person that owned the firm (most print shops were small) and who was a member of the BFMP (British Federation of Master Printers). How relevant the title is today and what criteria needs to be met I do not know.

With all due respect to those who are Master Printers indeed, it would appear that the title carries the same hazzards as titles like Phd. One once said while introducing himself last year before giving his presentation, on his lifes work with ultrasound, that his father told him, while he was persuing the degree, that it (Phd) stood for “piled higher and deeper”. This particular fellow truely appeared to have surmounted heavy odds to have achieved the title and also was quite humble. His father was a farmer, from a small northern NH town.
Unlike the above people mentioned, Mrs Clinton seems to lay claim to anything that will fit behind her name, use your own judgement.

With all due respect to those who are Master Printers indeed, it would appear that the title carries the same hazzards as titles like Phd. One once said while introducing himself last year before giving his presentation, on his lifes work with ultrasound, that his father told him, while he was persuing the degree, that it (Phd) stood for “piled higher and deeper”. This particular fellow truely appeared to have surmounted heavy odds to have achieved the title and also was quite humble. His father was a farmer, from a small northern NH town.
Unlike the above people mentioned, Mrs Clinton seems to lay claim to anything that will fit behind her name, use your own judgement.

Anyone can claim any degree of expertise they want. It’s the customer determining veracity of such claim.( Much as the voters will come this November.) There’s a world of difference between producing one line title card upon a 3x5 Kelsey and running 16,000 newspapers, 12 pages full broadsheet, on a flatbed Miehle Pony. I’ve doubts many have ever seen an Elrod let alone pulled twin 1pt. And stereo casting is not throwing a record player across the room, nor is a chalk plate for doing schoolwork. As for computer-generated imagery, well, is that even to be considered ‘printing’? If so, then Bill Gates is a ‘Master Printer’. :o)

I would think that the title of ‘Master Printer’ should be bestowed rather than self-inflicted. Even the masters programs cannot turn out printers that well enough versed in the skills that are acquired over a lifetime of printing. Sadly, most of the master printers I have known died twenty years ago. And I miss my Miehle Pony too.

I tend to think that good taste would prevent one from adopting the title “Master Printer” for one’s self. IF it were to be bestowed upon you by some impartial organization, such as a College of Printing or a Trade Guild, then it might be acceptable. Unfortunately, I don’t know that any such organizations still exist in the US….. so I can’t see any usage of the title being acceptable here.

As far as Tamarind goes, their use of the term “Master Printer” is looked upon with snickers and rolled eyes in the printmaking community. They are not “on a higher plane of existence” as they tend to think.

Here’s the way I see it: IF you are truly a Master Printer, then your work will show it and you won’t need to put it on your business card. If you are not a Master, then putting it on your card would be more of a pretentious joke than anything else….. and you will lose a lot of respect from your peers. ( It sort of reminds me of trashy gals who wear short shorts with “Classy” written across the backside. )

The comments I have read on this subject have brightened my day and have brought a smile to my face. The sound of those elrods … the smells of vitaflux drifting through the composing room … the sight of those compositors putting an ad together so that it will “lift”. The knowledge of spelling, punctuation, so many rules that make printing a craft - marking up type to fit … serving an apprenticeship that is steeped in tradition. Master printer … they are almost all gone!

Thank you all very much for your thoughtful contributions. These have broadened my view of this subject. The question remains: If one were to seek this title, where would one go? I linger on the words provided by Halfpenny Press. This is a title better bestowed than self-inflicted.
As a commercial industry, letterpress printing died in the late 60s. The typographical unions are history. And the relationship between the apprentice and journeyman is now defunct. The hierarchical stratification that once provided titles such as these no longer exist. Who will now bestow a title like this one?
I could never kow-tow to the printmaking academies for such a name. Intaglio and lithography have no relationship to the honorable realm of relief, specifically letterpress. My studies over 25 years have shown that I could teach these “masters” far more about letterpress than I could ever learn. And so, I go, with my knowledge in hand, seeking the ones who can offer the title to which I aspire.

Thank you all!

Craig

It is not the title that is of real importance, but rather the knowledge and experience that it represents. I have no doubt that many of the printers here could teach volumes to some self-proclaimed “Masters”…. but it doesn’t matter, since in the end it is only the finished work that really counts.

I have enjoyed many years in the printing industry. I aspire to be a master printer, but alas I can not even be a journeyman, apprentice, nor devil. Why not? hmmm could it be that those are perhaps union terms? In reality I will never know it all; so that is why I’ll never be a Master.

I agree with the previous posters that the title of “Master Printer” is something that should be earned rather than bestowed upon oneself. I also think that it’s true that the title does not hold the same sort of meaning that it used to back in the day, whether it be in letterpress or lithography or whatever.

However, I do take exception to winking cat’s assertion that the Tamarind Institute’s use of the term “Master Printer” is somehow laughable. As a participant in Tamarind’s printer training program I can confirm that the training is every bit as rigorous and mind-bogglingly painful as it is rumored to be. The one or two who make it through the second year and are bestowed the title of “Tamarind Master Printer” have definitely earned it. As for the Tamarind printers thinking they are on “a higher plane of existence”… I’d invite you to come to Albuquerque and spend a few hours with the printers here. You’ll mostly find a bunch of goofy college-aged kids who definitely know that they have a lot to learn.

I know the stereotypes about Tamarind, and maybe they were true back in the 60’s and 70’s, but I’m afraid things just aren’t like they used to be.

Gosh. Two whole years ( I assume two school terms of six months each?) to claim “Master Printer” status. Makes the drudgery of the apprenticeship program of yore positively draconian. But then, when much of today’s graphic skill is built into the equipment perhaps that accounts for the shortened timeframe. However, one could also offer that the title: “Master Mouser”, would be the better 21st century descript.

Porkchop… no offense was intended with my comments. I know the studio well. I have had personal, first-hand experience there, and many years of interaction with both Tamarind “Masters” and the Fine Art community that purchases/collects/profits from their work. I respect many of their people. My disagreement with them as an Institution is that some of their faculty try to assert that their vision of printmaking, and their technique of Stone Lithography is somehow “more artistic” or technically superior to other forms of printmaking. By using the term “Master” they are trying to codify their superiority…. which is an assertion that is not supported by everyone.

I do fully understand the rigors of their program, and respect it greatly. A graduate from their training does indeed posess a great deal of technical knowledge about Stone Lithography….. but that does not make them a Master Printer, it makes them a Journeyman Stone Lithographer at best. Two years is a START, not a Mastery.

In the end, it is the quality of the finished print that really matters, not the title, accolades, or pedigree of the person who printed it.

The term “master printer” has different meanings in letterpress (or any form of commercial printing) and in printmaking. In the commercial context it simply means an employing printer, one who is master of others, not one who has mastered the craft. It is not a progression from apprentice to journeyman to master printer as some assume, unless a journeyman starts his own shop and hires printers, as many did.
As used in printmaking, a master printer seems to be the equivalent of a journeyman; that is, one who has gone through training and is skilled and employable. The “master printer” printmakers I’ve met all had MFAs, were employed in printmaking businesses, and had years of working experience, and there was no reason to snigger about the title. But perhaps it’s up to the boss when that title is bestowed.
However, many people are using the term now when talking about letterpress without understanding its historical meaning, and confusing the printing and printmaking contexts.
I can’t agree entirely with the statement that commercial letterpress died in the 1960s, though the apprenticeship system did die then, and manufacturers deserted us. The letterpress trade has continued at a reduced scale, ignored by the rest of the printing industry. I know many printers and presses that were working then and are still working now.

We normally reserve this saying for the new printing franchise startups but I can’t resist.

“Two weeks ago I couldn’t even spell Master Printor. Now I are one!”

Sorry

Certainly no need for apology. You’ve captured the argument neatly.