VISUALCHEMIST

ser⋅en⋅dip⋅i⋅ty 1. an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident. 2. good fortune; luck 3. the gift of finding valuable or agreeable things not looked for

Serendipity is the only word to describe how this awesome Golding Pearl Model No. 11 (7×11) fell onto my lap. For weeks, I had been casually browsing floor model presses on the internet, in hopes of finding the perfect Chandler & Price OS 8×12. Not one to buy, but more one to admire and aspire to have, one of these days. I didn’t really have the room, nor the immediate means to move one of those massively heavy machines, so I though I was going to wait.

On a random weekend that my own little family and I were down in San Diego, visiting our two families, my husband and mother-in-law both decided to do a little Spring cleaning and toss out some old books. Without hesitation, I offered to take their books to my childhood public library where I frequently donate books for others to enjoy. On my way to the library, I had a sudden urge to stop at an antique store along the way. I had asked the owner, Jim, if he had any wood type laying around. Little did I know, this random stop would change everything.

Jim, unfortunately, did not have any wooden type for me. Instead, he mentioned that the gal several shops down, Jan, had a press for sale. A press? Oh yeah? I thought, Hmmm… I’ll have to check this one out. To my luck, Jan was in her shop. Remember, I had my heart set on a 8×12 C&P. It turned out Jan had a Golding Pearl and had purchased the contents of Christiansen Press some 25+ years back and the equipment had been stored in her brother’s garage ever since.

It hadn’t dawned on me, until this moment, that the Pearl was actually just right for my needs. Small footprint, old style spokes, relatively light weight frame, slightly taller than the C&P, and had a variable speed motor and foot treadle capabilities. I won’t bore you with any more details that only I would care about… The most awesome part of this story (for me anyway) is that this press and this equipment was all stored just down the street from my elementary school. Amazing! It had been sitting there waiting for the one day I would finally come to take it home.

Saying her brother’s garage was full of stuff was an understatement. Not knowing what the day had in store, I brought along my husband, dad and uncle for some extra muscle. Together with Jan and her husband, we began to empty out the contents of that garage. I should have taken photos when we first arrived. It was definitely gnarly in there. Like rescuing a trapped miner, eventually, the Pearl’s leg started showing through halfway deep into the contents of this garage.

She may look all old and rusty now, but just you wait. Don’t judge a press by its 25 year old peeling paint and rusty stains. With a little bit of love and a lot of elbow grease, “Lucy Pearl” will shine again.

Luckily this equipment only needed to be moved about 5 miles down the street. Eventually all this stuff will migrate into my design studio/open community letterpress shop. That’s the ultimate goal, anyway. What a day!