Of potential interest is this production record sheet for the week of 2/26/73, only 42 years ago almost to the week. It shows what Vandercook was working on and shipping about a year before it all collapsed. 1973 was not a good year as they posted a million dollar loss. Sales of the RO4 were very slow though there is one on this sheet. The serial number progression is very interesting with serial numbers all over the place. I scanned the card for the SP-15 going to Venice High School and it has the same ship date as on this sheet. Six of the presses were for export, and the two HS-27 proof press were for John Harlan, check printers still very much in business. It looks like newspapers were still in the market for presses.
Interesting! My no3 was owned by Harlan at some point. It still has a Harlan nameplate on it and there were a couple invoice statement proofs left in the cubbies.
A very slow week indeed. According to the census, two presses on this list, both SP15s, are still in use: one in Canada and the other in Japan.