Player Bows Out, But Print's Run Goes On

The message reads like so many we've received here over the years. It mentions a long career, memories of milestones, and the steady friendship with Graphic Arts Monthly, conveyed with a kind of graciousness of age as an "oldtimer" seeks to tie up a last few ends. Curiously, however, this letter arrived via e-mail rather than typewritten in the formatted correspondence form of yesteryear.

Paul A. Hupper, owner of Royal Printing, Winter Park, Fla., wrote, "After nearly 75 years being associated in one way or another with the printing business, I feel that it is time for me to hang up my apron, retire my line gauge and composing stick, and enjoy the remaining years of my life. I am at present 82 years old and have enjoyed the printing business for many years.

"When I first received a subscription to GAM in 1939, it was about the size of the present-day Reader's Digest magazine. After World War II began, I believe that GAM was discontinued [actually, it continued uninterrupted; most issues during the war years were 100 pages in size], although I cannot be sure as I went into the service. When I returned in 1945, I again began receiving GAM and it had changed to the full-size format [as a matter of fact, GAM's digest-size format continued until 1969, its 40th anniversary, when it went to the full size]. I wish to take this opportunity to thank everyone at GAM for the privilege of having been able to receive your publications for so many years."

Hupper continues, "For some reason, I remember one advertisement for a Lassco Hand Round Corner Machine, which in the early '40s sold for $24.95, including one cutting blade. That item has stuck in my memory for all these years. At this time, I would like to request that you cancel my subscription. Again, thanks for sending me your very informative magazine."

I think this message can help us to think about our present situation in the context of a long continuum, a story that's far from over. No, we're really not using rose-colored glasses to enrich the industry's history. The truth is, printers have undergone their share of tough times: conflicts between management and organized labor, war-caused shortages, safety breakdowns and environmental miscues, too-aggressive business expansions, bankruptcy filings, and so on.

And of course recent technological dynamics have eliminated a lot of traditional prepress operations and decimated stripping positions, remade estimating skills, turned necessary machine operator's skills upside-down, and challenged many traditional business practices.

But underpinning the progress of the industry over those many years have been a few guiding principles: there will always be a need for print; the next innovation is just around the corner; the small-business nature of the industry ensures that nearly anyone has a fair shot at a successful career; and the diversification of jobs makes printing attractive to a lot of people, who can utilize their talents and receive fair compensation in return.

Granted, some of those principles are suffering some erosion today, but in the long view, print will continue to have value for a very long time, the industry will prosper again, and people will enjoy the business just as the oldtimers did in their day.