Shniedewend & Lee
March 9, 2025So, I did a thing.
With a father who sold offset printing equipment and business machines his entire career, I have always had a love for printing—and letterpress in particular.
In college, I first got my hands inky on a proofing press while working at Sears while printing sale signs. I used a Showcard Machine used in the in-house sign shop, although only sign shop employees were suppossed to use the equipment. Years later, I purchased my first Showcard Machine complete with stand, typesetting rack, and hundreds of pounds of metal type, printing our wedding invitations, programs, and other pieces on it.
Over the years, meeting and becoming friends with the imcomparable Mo Lebowitz (The Antique Press) and incredible Jim Sherraden (Hatch Show Print), cemented my love and fascination with the process.
During a visit with family in northern Illinois in December 2023, I visited Studio 2-B, the print studio and letterpress collection of a former colleague, fine artist, and printmaker BL Thompson. A year later, he contacted me. He was letting go of two of his presses to make room for his dream etching press. He wanted to guage my interest in one of the presses—a Shniedewend & Lee Old Style Gordon 8x12 press. A smaller and rarer press than the Chandler & Price that he was planning on gifting to a local school.
It took me longer than I thought it would to decide—several things needed to be determined. First, I didn’t exactly have the room for a third press. Do I get rid of one—or both—of my proof presses? Second, at nearly 800 pounds, how do I move such a beast? Having never moved a press nor having the appropriate knowledge or equipment to do so.
After consulting Jim and Brian a number of times, and discussing the logistics with numerous friends and family members, just two months after learning about the press, I did a thing.
On one of the coldest days of the year this past January (it was 12 below zero the day before, not including the wind chill), the press was loaded into a moving pod in Illinois on its trek to Tennessee. Thanks to help from friends Jeff (loading) and Chris (unloading) the process went smoothly and easier than I had stressed over.
Now, sitting proudly in my studio is a rare Shniedewend & Lee Old Style Gordon 8x12 press. Based on when they were manufactured (between 1884-1893), this press is between 132-141 years old.
New rollers were ordered, manufactured, and delivered. Furniture (wooden blocks that surround the form), quoins, gauge pins, and a roller gauge have arrived. Oil holes have been identified. Studio rearranged. I am now realizing that this press requires an entire new vocabulary and knowledge compared to the proof press. It will take some time but what an exciting new adventure to go on. Once it is up-and-running—lets get our hands inky!
Shniedewend & Lee Co
In September of 1870, an electrotype foundry was established in Chicago by by Paul Shniedewend and James L. Lee to produce cuts for letterpress printing. Shniedewend & Lee Co. quickly quickly expanded into producing machinery for the printing and engraving industries.
The young company would have been wiped out by the Great Chicago Fire in 1871 had it not been for the quick action of co-founder James L. Lee. He went into the burning city and their office to save important papers and electrotype plates just before the entire building was destroyed. Two weeks later, the firm reopened in a barn at 240 East Madison Street, Chicago, and in 1873, Shniedewend & Lee moved into larger quarters and opened a store for the wholesale and retail sale of printing machines, printer’s supplies, and foundry type.
Apparently no strangers to fire, according to an insurance claim reported by the True Republican (May 4, 1887), “A fire at Chicago on the 25th completely gutted the building occupied by the Schneidewend & Lee Co., manufacturers of and dealers in printers supplies. Loss, $ 150,000 ; insurance, $80,000.“
The company then moved into the building at 303-305 Dearborn Street, Chicago, in the heart of what is known as Printers’ Row (Printing-House Row). In 1888 the company wrote, “Our building, now seven stories and basement, is the finest printing press manufactory and printers’ warehouse in the county.”
It was from this location that they set up the World’s Fair Headquarters for Printers during the World’s Columbian Exposition, which ran for six months from May 1 through October 30, 1893.
One announcement in the Alpena Argus (May 31, 1893) stated, “Shniedewend & Lee have fitted up headquarters for printers and their friends at 303 and 305 Dearborn St., Chicago, and have issued circulars of invitation to the craft… These headquarters are centrally located, and we are confident from what we know of the firm that they will give a good, old-time, hearty welcome.”
By the end of 1893, however, the partnership between Shniedewend and Lee ended, leading to the formation of separate companies. Paul Schniedewend continued to manufacture a variety of presses and sell printer’s and engraver’s machinery under his name (Paul Shniedewend & Company) until his death in 1913. James Lee moved his operation (Challenge Machinery Company) to Grand Haven, Michigan, which still exists today.
The Shniedewend & Lee and Challenge presses were produced from 1884 to 1893. The Challenge Company continued to make the Challenge Press until 1910, and, according to their website are the sole U.S. manufacturer of paper cutters/guillotine cutters.
Comparative Manufacturing
Many of the presses that Shniedewend & Lee produced are examples of comparative manufacturing. Several companies produced iron hand or platen presses at the time, although similar in design and operation, parts were not interchangeable.
Chandler & Price (C&P), founded in 1881 in Cleveland, Ohio, by Harrison T. Chandler and William H. Price, became another prominent manufacturer of printing equipment. The company focused on producing hand-fed platen jobbing presses, which were designed for shorter runs of small items like stationery and business cards.
With Shniedewend & Lee now out of the picture, C&P’s presses gained popularity due to their quality and ease of use, leading to the company’s dominance in the industry, especially in the 1930s. By the 1950s, the offset printing industry gained prominence, leading to the decline of movable type printing. C&P ceased production of presses in 1964.
Old Style Gordon Press
In 1851, George Phineas Gordon, a New Yorker, patented the first of his platen jobbers, whose now-familiar design formed the basis of almost every floor-model platen jobber to follow. Gordon developed and patented the “Franklin” platen job press in the late 1850s (which we now call an “Old Style” press). In the 1870s, as his patents were about to expire, he introduced a “New Style” press with significant improvements. The New Style design was often licensed to other manufacturers. However, at the same time, other manufacturers capitalized on this opportunity and introduced a slew of Old Style platen presses, usually with “improvements” to imply design superiority. Both Shniedewend & Lee and Chandler & Price were two of the most successful of these companies in making Old Style platens.
