The film sort of tells the story of the history of wood type in relation to Hamilton Manufacturing Co., the largest wood type manufacturer in the US back in the heyday of wood type. It also sort of shows the current state of the original manufacturing shop which has been turned into Hamilton Wood Type Museum. It shows who some of the letterpress enthusiasts in the general area are (uh, 250 mile radius) and why they care about the museum. My favorite part: The 83-year-olds who still volunteer occasionally to carve wood type. They are so cute. And they seriously are the last people who know how to do what they do. Whoa.
The film ended on a pretty depressing note. There are buckets in the middle of the floor to catch water dripping from the ceiling. The guy running the museum quits to pursue other artistic endeavors. Not very many people come to the museum. The museum is supported by ice cream sales from next door. Luckily for us (those of us in the audience, that is!), the new director of the museum flew out for the screening of the film and was there to tell us about the current state of affairs - it seems that things are really looking up! They're creating letterpress art using the old blocks and are able to sell them. They are training fresh blood to carve type in the hopes that they could begin selling sets of fonts again. They are arranging classes and exhibitions. How exciting.
As a lover and appreciator of typography, it was really neat to see the process of carving the old wood letters - from trimming the wood perfectly type-high, to cutting out the shape of the letter using a router, and then trimming the letter by hand. As a lover of rural/small town life, it made me want to move to somewhere small town and rural-y. As a lover of obscure things, it made me want to move to Twin Falls, Wisconsin and learn how to carve wood type myself.
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