[TO DO: incorporate 1907 Inland Printer ads from image-development.]
[TO DO: incorporate 1907 Inland Printer note that Thompson sold in England by Canadian-American Linotype]
John S. Thompson Co. (May 1907)
"Is this what you've been looking for?" [advertisement John S. Thompon & Co., 130 Sherman St., Chicago] Inland Printer, Vol. 39, No. 2 (May, 1907): 262.
This advertisement appeared in the same issue as the first trade notice and advertisement for the Thompson Type Caster. Note that the address here, 130 Sherman St., is the same as the Thompson Type Machine Co. For an identification of this location, see 130 Sherman Street.
Digitized by Google from copies at the Universities of Minnesota and Michigan. and available via the Hathi Trust. Hathi ID: umn.319510018987681 (Minnesota) Click on either the icon above or the medium-size image below for the full-available-resolution (alas only 1024 pixels wide) version.
Inland Printer (May, 1907), Trade Note
"Printers To Make Their Own Type." Inland Printer, Vol. 39, No. 2 (May, 1907): 250. This trade note would appear to be the first announcement of the machine to the public. The machine as shown in the cut differs in a number of ways even from very early surviving Thompsons.
Digitized by Google from copies at the Universities of Minnesota and Michigan. and available via the Hathi Trust. Hathi ID: umn.319510018987681 (Minnesota) The icon at left links to a PDF of the page containing this article from the Hathi Trust version of the Minnesota copy.
American Printer (May 1907)
"A New Typecasting Machine for Printers." American Printer, Vol. 44, No. 3 (May, 1907): 321. This is another version of the trade note of the first announcement of the machine.
Digitized by Google from the Univ. of Michigan copy. The icon at left links to an extract of this article from that digitization.
Here's the cut of this pre-production Thompson, as extracted as an image:
Inland Printer (May, 1907), Advertisement
The Importance of the Making of Things.
"Type Accuracy" (1910)
"Type Accuracy." [in "Business Notices" section] The Inland Printer. Vol. 44, No. 5 (Feb. 1910): 756. This trade note is particularly interesting because (a) it reveals that the Thompson company only made ten machines in their first four years. (The first Thompson-related patent (1,119,733) was filed in 1906, and the first for a machine resembling the Thompson as produced (1,026,185) was filed in 1907) and (b) that three of these were shipped to the Orient.
Digitized by Google from the University of Minnesota copy and available via The Hathi Trust (Hathi ID: umn.31951001898769z). The icond here links to a PDF assembled from the Hathi page images.
[TO DO: Inland Printer, v. 47, several trade notes and ads, including one noting two casters just shipped to China. 364 (ad), 442 (note, China), 527 (ad), 611 (note), 679 (ad), 841 (ad) ]
Linotype Bulletin (Nov. 1911)
The Linotype Bulletin. Vol. 7, No. 11 (November 1911): 86 & [back cover?] Mergenthaler Linotype Company announced that they are now the exclusive sales agents for the Thompson Type-Caster in North and South America, the West Indies, Hawaii, and the Philippines. Also notes the purchase (presumably independently) of the Thompson by the Japanese Government Printing Office.
The Linotype Bulletin. Vol. 7, No. 11 (Nov., 1911): 87 & back cover [?] .
Linotype Bulletin (Feb. 1912)
Short trade note promoting the ability of the Thompson to cut varying nicks.
The Linotype Bulletin. Vol. 8, No. 2 (Feb. 1912): 18 .
Linotype Bulletin (Mar. 1912)
"The Thompson Typecaster - An Auxiliary to the Linotype." A fascinating argument that the Thompson complements the Linotype because it can cast from Linotype matrices. This enables a printer to sell not only (Linotype) composition but also sorts cast from the same matrices "and so permit [the customer] (in the event of late additions to the matter, or corrections or alterations to the text) to set these by hand without delay."
The Linotype Bulletin. Vol. 8, No. 3 (Mar. 1912): 34-35 .
Linotype Bulletin (Jun. 1912)
Full-page ad.
The Linotype Bulletin. Vol. 8, No. 6 (Jun. 1912): 13 [unpaginated] .
Linotype Bulletin (Jul. 1912)
"Thompson Typecasters in Newspaper Ad Rooms."
The Linotype Bulletin. Vol. 8, No. 7 (Jul. 1912): 110 [unpaginated] .
Linotype Bulletin (Aug. 1912)
"Thompson Typecaster Quality."
The Linotype Bulletin. Vol. 8, No. 8 (Aug. 1912): 119 .
Linotype Bulletin (Aug. 1912)
"Thompson Typecasters Universally Adopted." (Full-page ad.) Used in Japan, China, India, Italy, Germany, Austria, Holland, England, South America [apparently South America was one country at this time :-) ], Panama, Cuba, Canada ... and the US. Also notes that a matrix library was maintained in San Francisco (in addition to Chicago and NY).
The Linotype Bulletin. Vol. 8, No. 10 (Oct. 1912): 158 .
Linotype Bulletin (Apr. 1913)
The Thompson in reform school.
The Linotype Bulletin. Vol. 9, No. 04 (Apr. 1913): 52 .
Linotype Bulletin (Jun. 1913)
Things are looking up for the Thompson. In April it was in reform school, but now it's at the Waldorf. Also in use by "twenty daily newspapers."
The Linotype Bulletin. Vol. 9, No. 06 (Jun. 1913): 94 .
Linotype Bulletin (Oct. 1913)
"Speed and Production of Typecasters."
The Linotype Bulletin. Vol. 9, No. 10 (Oct. 1913): 151 .
Linotype Bulletin (Dec. 1913)
"The Thompson in Ad Rooms."
The Linotype Bulletin. Vol. 9, No. 12 (Dec. 1913): 191 .
Inland Printer, April 1914, Trade Notes
Trade Note announcing the acquisition of "an entire Compositype matrix library" "this month."
The Inland Printer. Vol. 53, No. 1 (April, 1914): 122-123 .
Linotype Bulletin (Apr. 1914)
The Thompson again at the Waldorf. I can't see it in the picture, but this ad is interesting because (a) it indicates that Mergenthaler was still selling the Thompson at this time, and (b) it makes no mention of Thompson's acquisition of "a" Compositype matrix library. Of course, the fact that the Thompson could cast Compositype mats was probably of zero to negative interest to Mergenthaler.
The Linotype Bulletin. Vol. 10, No. 4 (Apr. 1914): 71 .
Note: The 1914 volume of The Linotype Bulletin presently online is incomplete (containing only two numbers, for January and April). As 1914 would seem to have been an interesting year for the Thompson, this is unfortunate.
Note also that The Linotype Bulletin restarted its volume/issue numbering in August 1914, with Vol. 11, No. 1.
Inland Printer, April 1914, Ad
Advertisement announcing the acquisition of "an entire Compositype matrix library."
The Inland Printer. Vol. 53, No. 1 (April, 1914): 141 .
Inland Printer, May 1914, Ad
Thompson ad; "Endorsed and sold by the Mergenthaler Linotype Company."
The Inland Printer. Vol. 53, No. 2 (May, 1914): 220 .
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