Kelsey serial numbers and dates

Following the informative discussion on cleaning a press at http://www.briarpress.org/5802, I received an inquiry about the Kelsey serial numbers that subscriber ‘forme’ posted. There has always been much confusion about Kelsey model numbers and how or if they relate in any way to the date of manufacture. As I mentioned in a previous post, although presses were marked as Model, P, Model U etc. the catalogs make no reference to these letters. Many catalogs refer to “Printing Outfit B” or “Printing Outfit E,” but this appears to have had no bearing on the model number of the press or the date of manufacture.

The numbers that forme posted, do however tell us about the date his presses were made. For example, the first number posted, C54C, provides the following information: C is the size of the press, 6 x 10 inches. 54 is the year, 1954, and the second C is the month the press was made; C being the third letter of the alphabet relates to March as the third month of the year, so that particular 6x10 press was made in March 1954. Therefore, the second number, A83D, indicates that the press is a 3 x 5 inch press made in April 1983.

Serial numbers were used mainly in the later Kelsey presses. If your press has a serial number, it can be found at the top of the chase bed. New to letterpress? To locate the press bed, click on our illustrated letterpress glossary that resides on the old site.

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