ORDER XVI.—MAKERS OF AND WORKERS IN PAPER; PRINTERS, BOOKBINDERS, PHOTOGRAPHERS, ETC.

Sub-order 2.—Printers, Bookbinders, and Photographers

548.—Other Skilled Workers

Back to List of Occupational Codes

aerographer, aerograph worker, aerograph artist

sprays paint through aerograph pencil by compressed air to produce colour designs on Christmas cards, wallpapers, or any painted surface, with or without use of stencils.

almanac maker

makes calendar by affixing, in correct order, printed sheets (each giving a day or a month) to card foundation, using gum, wire stitching machine, etc.

arc light printer

(i) see blue printer;

(ii) see phototype printer.

beveller

cuts stereotype, electrotype, or process plates to required size on guillotine machine and finishes with bevelled edges on power bevelling machine or by means of hand plane.

block maker

see mounter (stereotyping).

blue printer ; arc light printer

produces copies (white lines on blue ground) of engineer's drawings or architect's plans, by exposing tracing of drawing over sensitised paper (ferro-prussiate, etc.) in a printing frame to sunlight or arc light, developing and washing print in large flat dishes or sinks, and drying; may also work by phototype process, producing copies with black lines on white ground, see phototype printer.

board chopper (bookbinder's)

cuts strawboard or millboard with board-cutting machine or guillotine by placing board against gauges, and pulling lever or otherwise operating machine.

brusher (paper staining)

see glazer.

Christmas card maker, birthday card maker

attaches suitable printed slip to ornamental cover and ties together with ribbon, etc.

cleaner, lithographic plate or stone

removes old designs from lithographic plates or stones, by grinding or by use of chemicals; usually acts as lithographic plate or stone grinder q.v.

colourer, photographic

paints over photographs in water colours or oils; sometimes previously prepares surface with a flat wash of some special medium.

copyholder ; manuscriptreader, reader's assistant, reader's boy, reading boy

reads aloud from original manuscript or copy, while reader q.v. or corrector of the press q.v. checks printed proof.

corrector

see picker.

corrector of the press, press corrector ; press reader, press reviser

a reader q.v., proof reading for newspapers.

counter, paper counter ; teller

counts and piles sheets in numbered groups before cutting or despatch.

cutter, guillotine ; machine cutter, paper cutter, printer's cutter

adjusts . paper on bed of cutting machine, bringing it into exact position under knife; clamps pile of paper with heavy iron clamps; and moves lever which releases heavy knife.

cutter, index

places required number of book leaves, folio sheets, etc., on machine; adjusts cutter of machine; presses a foot lever which brings down cutter, and cuts sheets or leaves to shape and size required; passes cut material to numberer (549) q.v.

cutter, label

a guillotine cutter q.v. or a shear cutter q.v. who trims edges of labels.

cutter, machine; paper cutter

see cutter, guillotine.

cutter, playing card

cuts up printed sheets into playing cards by means of rotary cutting machine.

cutter, printer's

see cutter, guillotine.

cutter, shear

cuts edges of showcards, strawboards, etc., with hand lever shears.

cutterman (wall paper)

cuts, by band or by machine, reels of wall paper into lengths of 12 yards, each piece being 22 inches wide.

designer (paper staining), paper hangings designer

designs, draws and colours patterns for wall paper.

designer, printer's

arranges "lay out" for advertisements, etc.; is often a specially skilled compositor (522) q.v.

engineer's photo printer

see phototype printer.

flocker (paper staining)

presses block covered with size on paper as in block printing, cf. block printer (535); passes paper, so printed, through drum or trough of linen filled with wool or silk flock, and beats underneath drum to make flock adhere to paper.

folder, book folder (bookbinder's)

receives printed sheets in condition in which they leave printer's hands and folds them by means of a small wooden or bone spatula, so that pages run in numerical order and are in register; folding for ordinary bookbinding is usually done by machine, cf. folding machine feeder (549).

glazer (paper staining) ; brusher

(i) fixes coil of paper on rollers of brushing machine, used to produce satin finish on paper, treating surface with French chalk; sees that boxes attached to machine are filled with chalk; regulates power-drive of machine by means of levers or switches, and sees that it is working properly;

(ii) hand process, for small quantities, applies French chalk to paper, and rubs it with brushes or with a cloth, by hand.

grainer, lithographic plate or stone

"grains," or slightly roughens, surface of lithographic plate or stone for production of half-tone work; uses a hand or machine driven muller and sand; or works all over surface of stone with a mechanically-driven revolving disc attached to flexible rod and usually hanging from ceiling.

grinder, lithographic plate or stone

(i) grinds stone level with sand or powdered glass, or removes old work by grinding or planing away a certain thickness depending upon length of time work has been kept on stone;

(ii) grinds zinc plates, usually by placing them with a number of porcelain marbles in a tray, which is shaken from side to side by machinery; usually acts also as lithographic plate or stone cleaner q.v.

guillotine hand (wallpaper)

cuts paper mainly for pattern books, using ordinary paper guillotine.

impression taker (roller engraving)

takes off trial impressions on cloth of finished engraved rollers on an impressioning (or small printing) machine with coloured pastes; puts colour paste into doctor or paste feed of machine, allows paste to run on to roller and removes superfluous paste by causing roller to revolve against doctor knife; places cloth by hand on bed plate and by means of lever control causes cloth to pass under revolving roller; removes cloth for examination when impression has been made.

leveller

levels copper plate by hammering on lithographic stone.

map examiner, model

examines model map globes representing the earth, to ensure that the map sections are correctly pasted on.

map maker, dissected (lithographer's)

a map mounter q.v., who cuts maps into sections; mounts section on linen or other fabric, or on strong paper, to facilitate folding, and makes them up into book form.

map maker, model

attaches printed sections of map to globe to form demonstration model of the earth, etc.

marbler (bookbinder's), book-edge marbler

works at a trough filled with size; mixes colours and throws them into trough, where they remain on surface of size; draws comb-like instrument over the colours to make design required; dips edges of book into mixture; washes off surplus size from edges and allows book to dry.

marbler (paper staining), paper marbler

paints paper by hand to imitate surface of marble.

mounter, chart

see mounter, map.

mounter, dry ; hot mounter

mounts maps, showing cards, etc., on mounts by placing very thin sheet of gelatine between map, etc., and mount, and then applying heat by rubbing with a heated iron or by placing in a heated press.

mounter, hot

(i) attaches letterpress formes to iron slab (which takes place of "chase") with adhesive paste, in preparation for placing them in printing machine;

(ii) see mounter, dry.

mounter, map ; chart mounter

glues or pastes printed map on to linen or cardboard.

mounter, plan

as for mounter, map.

mounter (printer's)

(i) see mounter (stereotyping, electrotyping and process engraving);

(ii) see mounter, print.

mounter, print (lithographers') ; mounter (printer's)

fixes printed sheets on stiff mounts with adhesive liquid or in a press by application of heat, see mounter, dry.

mounter (stereotyping, electrotyping and process engraving) ; block maker, mounter (printer's)

affixes stereo, electro or process plates to blocks of wood or metal with nails or spring catches, taking care to make plate and mount together standard type high; sometimes also cuts metal to required size with circular saw; routs out portions of plate to be left white in finished block, with routing machine, i.e.. revolving cutter on a power-driven spindle, and bevels edges of plate with rotary beveller; sometimes specifically designated,- e.g., process mounter, half-tone process mounter.

mounter, three colour process

a mounter (stereotyping, electrotyping and process engraving) q.v. who mounts plates, prepared by three-colour process.

news hand

general term for any printer's craftsman engaged upon newspaper work, including compositor (523), printing machine minder (529), machine assistant (530) q.v.; term is used mainly to differentiate workers engaged on newspaper work from those on ordinary letterpress printing, where both kinds of printing are carried on.

nittler (stereotyping)

reduces thickness of metal plates by means of nittling or planing machine.

panel maker (paper staining)

places sheets of paper pulp in large hydraulic presses in manufacture of very thick mural coverings in solid relief e.g., lincrusta, anaglyptic and similar decorations; removes them after being pressed, and generally looks after presses, fixing moulds, etc.

paper stainer

general term for workers engaged in colouring paper by hand or machine.

patcher

see shiner-up.

photogravure carbon printer

squeezes a carbon print from a reversed positive on to a copper plate or cylinder, and immerses it in hot water, thereby dissolving away gelatine unaffected by light; cf. carbon printer (527).

phototype printer ; arc light printer, engineer's photo printer

reproduces, by phototype process on ferrotype printing paper, tracings of engineer's drawings or architectural plans; places tracing over sensitised paper in printing frame and exposes to arc light; removes paper, develops and washes in porcelain dishes or sinks, and finally dries it in drying chamber or in heated press.

picker ; corrector

inserts corrections in type on metal stereotype plates, and repairs broken letters, with pointed tool.

pocket book maker

fixes diary or writing paper sheets in cases or covers and finishes process of binding.

polisher, lithographic plate or stone

smooths lithographic stone after it has been ground, by moistening it and rubbing another stone upon it.

polisher, tin plate (lithographer's)

polishes sheets of tin, after printing, with pumice powder, by hand, or machine.

post card colourist

paints post-cards by hand, or colours drawings or photographs.

post card glazer

feeds cards into machine which applies coating of varnish or gelatine; or may apply glaze by hand brush or squeegee.

post card maker

cuts up printed cardboard sheets into postcards by means of rotary cutting machine.

poster writer

as for show card writer

or may be a lithographic writer (528) q.v. engaged on poster work.

preparer, lithographic plate or stone

general term covering lithographic plate or stone grinder, polisher, grainer or cleaner q.v.

pressman (lithography) ; proofer, prover

pulls or prints in a hand press from lithographic stones or plates preliminary proofs as work advances; cf. transfer printer (528) and printer's pressman.

pressman, printer's pressman ; proof puller, proof pi-over

inks by hand with roller, a forme, stone, stereo, electro, or process block, and, by means of hand press, obtains proof from block, forme, stone, etc.

process artist

(i) prepares photographs, drawings, etc., for photo process reproductions; increases contrast in light and shadow for halftone work by touching up with white and black paint; amends backgrounds by patching photographs, etc.; makes line drawings for newspaper reproduction by inking over outlines of photograph, the background of which is subsequently bleached out; designs surrounds for; illustrations;

(ii) puts light and shade in drawings of machines, and otherwise retouches them, with brush or aerograph pencil, to make them suitable for reproduction.

proofer (lithographer's)

see pressman (lithography).

proof passer (lithographer's)

examines lithographic proofs before printing.

proof puller, proof prover

see pressman, printer's.

prover (lithographer's)

see pressman (lithography).

racker (lithographer's)

takes work from lithographic machine to racks for drying.

reader, printer's reader, proof reader ; printer's reviser, proof reviser

reads proof pulled from type and corrects all errors in composition, grammar, punctuation, etc.; is usually assisted by copyholder q.v.

reader, manuscript

see copyholder.

reader, press

see corrector of the press.

reader's assistant, reader's boy, reading boy (printer's)

see copyholder.

reviser, machine

a reader q.v. who finally revises printed sheet before machine is set in motion.

reviser, press

see corrector of-the press.

reviser, printer's

see reader.

reviser, proof

see reader.

roller, hot (printer's)

manipulates hot rolling machine, which, by means of hot rollers, dries, presses, and calenders sheets received direct from printing machine.

roller-up (lithographer's)

inks stone by passing a roller, covered with lithographic ink, over it.

router

routs or gouges out portions of stereo, electro, or process plates by revolving cutter on a power-driven spindle; cf. mounter.

shiner-up (lithographer's) ; patcher

arranges colour transfers before transferring them to stone.

show card designer

draws out a design or lay-out for a show card, either roughly in pencil to be worked up by show card writer or in more detail with ink and colours for actual use or for reproduction by lithographic or other printing process.

show card maker

cuts out show cards from cardboard, by hand or with a guillotine or rotary cutting machine; mounts printed matter on card, see show card mounter.

show card mounter

a mounter q.v. fixing printed sheets on to slum cards.

show card writer

paints prices and descriptions of goods, by hand, on show cards for window or shop display.

stenciller (tin tickets)

coats ticket, by spraying with a ground of white or other paint and stoves to harden-on paint; places stencil over groundwork; sprays coloured paint over it and stoves again; finally applies coat of varnish, by spraying, and again stoves.

stone tinter (lithographer's)

prepares lithographic stones for map printing, i.e., works on stone with chalk to produce variation in tint as required, e.g., deeper tint round boundaries of specified areas, countries, etc.

stripper (process engraving) ; turner

treats film of several negative plates with rubber solution, and then strips films from glass with methylated spirit; places these films face downwards on one large sheet of glass, so effecting subsequent economy in photo process; sometimes done by metal printer (526) q.v.

teller

see counter.

ticket maker

(i) cuts out ticket blanks from cardboard with a guillotine or rotary cutting machine;

(ii) prints or writes, on small strips of cardboard, previously cut in a cutting machine, prices and descriptions of goods, for window display; may also write show cards, see show card writer.

ticket varnisher

varnishes tickets with a brush by hand and sets aside to dry, or more usually feeds them into varnishing machine, which applies a coat of varnish and then carries them through drying chambers.

ticket writer

as for show card writer, but work usually of simpler character.

tin ticket writer

writes on tin tickets by applying coloured paint with a brush; ticket is afterwards stoved to harden-on paint.

true to scale operator (blue prints)

a phototype printer q.v. who prints from engineer's or architect's tracing on to specially sensitised paper by means of exposure to arc light and transfers imprint to gelatine surface on a slab; takes copies from the gelatine, by laying a sheet of paper on gelatine and pressing the two into even contact.

turner (process engraving)

see stripper.

varnisher (lithographer's, paper staining), paper varnisher

(i) hand process, paints cards or paper with varnish, with a brush, and sets cards aside to dry;

(ii) varnishing machine minder; machine process, instructs labourers as to filling varnish duct, or trough, in machine; regulates -power which drives machine; passes cards or paper into machine; watches varnishing process to detect flaws; piles up varnished cards as they come from drying end of machine, or, if reels of paper are being varnished, watches re-reeling machine for breaks, creasing, etc.

varnishing machine minder

see varnisher (lithographer's, paper staining).

window ticket maker

a ticket maker q.v. who cuts out window tickets.

window ticket writer

as for show card writer.

Back to List of Occupational Codes

---

From: A Dictionary of Occupational Terms Based on the Classification of Occupations used in the Census of Population, 1921,
Ministry of Labour, 1927. Digitised by Peter Christian, August, 2016.   This text is in the Public Domain.