Andrew Franklin Wanner (1855–1935) was a typefounder and the proprietor of A.F. Wanner & Co. a printing supplier and press manufacturer in Chicago. Today the company is remembered as the original maker of Potter and Poco proof presses. It was also one of the earliest selling agents for Vandercook. In 1867, Wanner moved to Chicago [...]

Horace Wardner Hacker (1879–1968) was the founder of the Hacker Manufacturing Co. in Chicago, which made plate gauges, and test presses that featured reciprocating beds with stationary carriages. Hacker held 14 U.S. Patents for various gauges and press mechanisms (and four later patents unrelated to printing). Like R.O. Vandercook, he was a proponent of press [...]

Terry Chouinard sent me this advertisement he saw in the BBS Specimen Book (No. 25) for a “Vandercook Gordon Press Vibrator.” He asked if Vandercook made any other equipment for production presses? Good question. After all, their presses were marketed as pre-press equipment. But nothing in the catalogs I’ve seen references anything like the Gordon [...]

Does anyone know of any surviving examples of the Hacker No. 4 proof press, as pictured in the “Other Brands” link – in museums, private collections, or in use? Thanks, John

As a result of publicizing the gains of the Vandercook census, owners of other brands of cylinder proof presses have volunteered their data and have also alerted me to the existence of additional owners. In particular the “Asbern”:http://vandercookpress.info/vanderblog/asbern/ and “Challenge”:http://vandercookpress.info/vanderblog/challenge/ censuses have begun to take shape.

In this photo from a Vandercook & Sons exhibit at the American Photoengravers Association convention there is a press shown with a reciprocating bed. Is this in the era of the Hacker buyout, or did Vandercook make a press with a travelling bed? Daniel Morris The Arm Letterpress Brooklyn, NY

I know that Hacker Mfg. was acquired by Vandercook, but this gauge appears to pre-date that merger. Does anyone have any information on Hacker gauges from this era? This particular gauge has two standards (.159 and a .759) which add up to type-high. I would guess it was to be used for checking planed blocks [...]