Antique Letterpress Printing Blocks Lot 3 Industrial Railroad Copper 580s for Sale

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Antique Letterpress Printing Blocks Lot 3 Industrial Railroad Copper 580s For Sale

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Antique Letterpress Printing Blocks Lot 3 Industrial Railroad Copper 580s:
$211.17

DUSTY PETE REPORTING FROM INSIDE THE DUMPSTER

Folks, every once in a while you dig through enough old stuff and find something that makes you stop compacting the pile and say, well I’ll be darned.

This is a lot of three antique metal-on-wood commercial printing blocks, also known as letterpress cuts/photoengraving blocks, depicting early industrial rail cars and material-handling machinery.

These are the real working deal — thin engraved/etched metal image plates mounted to wooden printing blocks so they could be inked and printed alongside movable type in catalogs, advertisements, trade publications, and other commercial material.

The three blocks appear to belong together and depict:

* Large industrial rack/car apparatus

* Long rail-mounted hopper/dump/transfer-type car

* Industrial multi-bay machinery/building-style illustration

One block has an old red grease-pencil notation that appears to read:

“298 / Page 21”

Another appears to have a faint notation reading approximately:

“pg 17”

There are also remnants of old paper labels, faint ink stamps, pencil/production markings, nail/brad mounting hardware, printing ink residue, oxidation, and other evidence of their original working life.

Research suggests the machinery may be related to early Columbus, Ohio industrial manufacturing, potentially including equipment produced by Chase Foundry & Manufacturing Co., which manufactured industrial cars, drying cars, transfer cars, charging cars, brick cars, and similar equipment in the early 20th century.

A faint stamp may also possibly relate to a historic Columbus engraving company.

IMPORTANT: Those company connections have NOT been conclusively proven, so they are being included only as research possibilities and are not guaranteed identifications.

These are being sold exactly as found and have NOT been polished, cleaned, restored, or separated from their wooden mounts.

Condition is antique/used with substantial age-related wear including staining, oxidation, old ink, surface wear, paper remnants, fading, scratches, edge wear, wood discoloration, and other signs of long-term industrial use and storage. Please examine all photos carefully.

All three pieces are included as one lot.

They have survived roughly a century of printing-shop life, industrial history, storage, dirt, nails, ink, and whatever else America could throw at them.

That earns them a little respect.

Dusty Pete says keep the history together. 🇺🇸

Sold as shown. Please review photos for exact condition and contents.