January 4, 2012January 27, 2013 by Jeff Peachey

Alternative Uses for a Book Press

Buster Keaton & Fatty Arbuckle, The Bell Boy, 1918

The Three Stooges, Disorder in the Court, 1936

For information on the use, history and dating of copy presses, see Rhodes, Barbara and William Streeter, Before Photocopying: The Art & History of Mechanical Copying 1780-1938. New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press and Northhampton, Mass: Heraldry Bindery, 1999.

2 Replies to “Alternative Uses for a Book Press”

ssnorris says:

January 4, 2012 at 11:56 am

Someone who knows this specific film better might correct me, but that fellow whose head is in the press doesn’t appear to be Buster Keaton, who would have been 23 in 1918. It might be Joe Keaton, Buster’s father, who played a smaller role in the film. Anyone?

Details aside, thanks for the post. I get a surprising number of questions about such alternative uses for presses when tours come through my lab.
Jeff Peachey says:

January 4, 2012 at 3:54 pm

I’m not sure who is in the press, the title of the Kino DVD set is “Arbuckle and Keaton: The Original Comique/ Paramount Shorts, 1917-1920” Joe Keaton is listed as appearing in the film so you might be right.