Some one found me on the web and wanted me to go down to Woonsocket, RI, to help, to see if I could, restore an old R. Hoe & Co. press like mine.

The original state of the press was in pieces, abandoned in the back room amidst piles of old computer parts, furniture, newspapers in full bindings from the day, pieces of tables and odd machine spare parts.

A newspaper reporter told me it may have been painted gold in 1976 bicentennial celebrations. It required a lot of cleaning, and moving, and setting up with the fabricated replacement parts for the tympan and frisket. It came out looking really nice and is almost ready to print on. So close to being able to print on isn't good enough. So many things to do to accommodate the restoration of this press. In good shape the Hoe is capable of doing fine printing and facilitate teaching of book design in relation to relief printing; as it was a century or more ago, for books and other print media, and transitions of applications in history , as hoped, through hands on workshops facilitate enrichment of student experience. Letterpress, or relief printing, gradually moved out of main production methods with offset litho and digital technologies coming in, not long ago, and is kept alive by folks all over the country to this day. The letterpress fine press movement, as encouraged by Giovanni Mardersteig's Officina Bodoni, seems harder to maintain, but remains hearty due to many people printing, and helping printers with equipment, moving, fabricating pieces, and supplies, and the general appreciation for the book.

This #6432 R. Hoe & Co. washington style iron handpress now sits in the old train station on High and Main Streets, the edge of Downtown Woonsocket's historic section. The station, home to the national parks offices for Blackstone Valley, (The Depot), is one of many interesting and beautiful pieces of architecture on Main Street.