Tucked away north of Boston in Haverhill, MA is an unassuming building dedicated to the art of printing and publishing. It is a hidden gem both in terms of educational field trips and for those who are already inspired by print technology. The Museum of Printing is home to a huge collection of multiple types of printing and publishing through the years, including printing presses, typewriters, early computers, and more. It’s almost a combination art museum and historical archive.
Because the museum is dedicated to preserving the history of printed word, as visitors we were able to walk through the history of type and publishing across cultures and through major historic events. During our weekday field trip, we were able to discover different forms of typesetting, getting hands-on experience with printing presses and a typewriter!
We started and ended in a small room off to the side where Frank Romano, President of The Friends of the Museum of Printing, kicked off the day. He is an absolute wealth of knowledge, answering any and every question he could. He also was quite a storyteller, and had the children hooked almost immediately. My children especially loved the obscure fact that the full name of Gutenburg was Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg and part of it means “Goose Meat”. It’s the fun facts that sometimes spark an extra level of curiosity with what they’re learning and interacting with that day. This was a great way to get an introduction to the museum and to the history of book making and how the printing press changed the world (including saving the Mayflower!)
The kids were able to write a letter or choose what they would want to type on a type writer.
They also got the opportunity to pick out which plates from a small selection that they wanted to cover in ink and get to put into the printing press. Understanding just how much physical labor goes into some of the machines was very eye opening as the kids were often told to “push a little harder” on the lever that spun the press downwards onto their paper.
In the back room there is a library with collections that the owner has been procuring over the years. He was so open and willing to talk about how he had it all organized and what he was still looking for to have a more complete and robust collection. And it’s not just books about printing but also books that were printed a certain way or in a certain style.
In the front of the museum, there are some small cases containing old Bibles and other early printed books as well as a lovely gift shop to grab a souvenir!
Audiobooks and extra resources about the Printing Press
We typically listen to audiobooks on the way to a field trip or in the days and weeks prior to visiting. I have linked applicable books to amazon; we earn from qualifying purchases* Here are a few printing press homeschool resources we enjoyed:
- A Day in the Life of a Colonial Printer*
- Fine Print: A story about Johann Gutenberg *
- Potato printmaking for children to see how doing the work once and repeating it makes a difference in time!
Museum of Printing Field Trip Prep
We have a good family friend that is a print maker. He also has a membership at the museum and he has volunteered at Canterbury Village in NH doing print making. I asked him about making this field trip as meaningful as possible. He replied with ways to investigate topics and questions both before and after.
- Before going, show the kids how to make potato stamps/prints to do their own prints so they can get a taste of the process of printing.
- How did humans move from writing things by hand to printing things? In other words, who invented printing? When? And why?
- What does the Bible have to do with printmaking?
- What is “moveable type”?
- How many different ways can you think of to print something? Make a list.
- What is a platen press?
- Printing words is one type of printing. What are different ways of printing pictures?
After going through the museum:
- What is your favorite type of printmaking? Why?
- Which form of printing was the most beautiful?
- Was using the printing press physically demanding?
- Why did many print shops in history have a pet cat?
Other resources that might be helpful!
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