Since the 1950's, with the introduction of the Fotosetter by Intertype, the popularity of the hot metal typesetting machines is decreasing, as new technologies emerged. Later technologies make the hot metal typesetters, such as the Linotypes, Intertypes, Linographs, Typographs, Monotypes, Nebitypes and others less economically viable and almost completely redundant.
In 2012, the movie Linotype: The Film already explored the questions "What place does the Linotype have in the age of new technology? Should the machine be shoved into a museum and left to rust? Why should anyone care about typography or the technology of communication?" In the 2020's, those questions are even more pressing. Answers on the questions above are not yet provided, and the hot metal typesetting machines are still searching for their position in a fast changing digital world.
In America, the situation is not yet that pressing. According to the Linotype Registry by Keenlan Lightfoot, a database of remaining machines in the US, there are 340 registered Linotype machines, and several are being used. Dave and Beth Seat from Hot Metal Services are still traveling around to maintain and to repair Linotypes and Ludlows. The American Typecasting Fellowship organises yearly conferences for involved people.
In Europe however, the situation is getting worse. There is no database of the available machines. The only place that still actively operates those machines on a daily basis is the the newspaper Le Démocrate de l’Aisne. The only well-known technician regarding Linotype traveling around is Percy Penzel of Typorama in Switserland. Ian Gabb is traveling around whole Europe for the Monotypes. Additionally, there are some technicians servicing a local area. Of course there are places (such as museums) that demonstrate the machines to a wider public. Examples are the Fjeld-Ljom Newspaper Museum at Røros in Central Norway, the Haus der Industriekultur, a Hessian State Museum located in Darmstadt, Germany (closed completely in 2024), the Industrial Museum at Ghent, Belgium, and Typorama in Switserland. But those do not regularly create work on them, and those museums rely on volunteers to keep those machines running. When the local volunteers die, there often is nobody to maintain and/or use the machine. The machine is then often abandoned. a network from experienced people who know those machines is lacking.
There are some rays of hope for those machines. Several letterpress studios are still active, and some have hot metal typesetting machines running. At some places, a younger generation is learning the necessary skills to maintain and to use those hot metal typesetting machines. There is Superdruk in Antwerp, Belgium, project Letter-kunde by Patrick Goossens in Antwerp, Belgium, carpe plumbum in Leipzig, Germany, the printing lab at the Instituto Politécnico de Tomar and Marit Brandsnes in Norway. Additionally, institutions such as the Typa Printing and Paper Art Center in Tartu, Estonia, and the Museum for the Printing Arts in Leipzig, Germany recently attracted some young technicians with an interest in hot metal typesetting. Maarten Renckens built the digital archive Linotype.wiki, as an online database and a place to make knowledge easier accessible. More local initiatives are going on.
On a technical side, a computer connection between the computer and the Monotype was developed. This way, it can be used together with a computer. More possibilities with those machines arose.
There are several initiatives to engage a larger audience, at conferences and with workshops. The survival of those machines, and letterpress in general, is a recurring topic at the Association of European Printing Museums. The theme of the 2023 conference was Quo vadis? Printing discovering its future, the theme of the 2024 conference was Printing Museums and the Arts of Survival, the one from 2019 Safeguarding intangible heritage and in 2012 Challenges for the preservation, study and exhibition of typographical heritage materials. In 2023, the Fjeld-Ljom Newspaper Museum at Røros in Central Norway launched a specific call for more trained technicians, and mentioned that this should not be a museum-dependent approach, but via a collaboration.
Figure: a call for action to train more skilled typesetter technicians, from the Fjeld-Ljom Newspaper Museum at Røros.
However, a collaboration requires funding. Additionally, a database for the translation of specific terminology would be required, to facilitate collaboration in different languages. The last word has not yet been said about this topic, and new initiatives will probably and hopefully emerge.
This article is a stub, a full version is being written by Maarten Renckens, Patrick Goossens, Jan Erik Øvergård, Marit Brandsnes, and Franz Hennies.