I say it fell onto my lap, and it practically did, during a business lunch with friend and former coworker, Jennifer Hohner of D’Lischka. Jen mentioned that her cousin, Greg, was trying to give away his “Vandersomething.” When she asked “I don’t want it, do you?” images of letterpress poster printing started dancing through my head. Without hesitation, I was on the phone with Greg and 4 days later, I was hauling Professor Cook down 405, via Santa Monica to San Diego.

This was a Pasadena Art Center College of Design press that found it’s way into Greg’s Santa Monica garage studio, where it sat unused for 10 years. It had gotten rusty over time, but a little love and elbow grease can easily fix that.

At 1,050lbs, I thought we’d need to hire a mover and rent a forklift to pick him up, but instead, I got a little lesson from my dad about leverage using a few scraps of wood and a car jack. Getting Professor Cook home was a task full of hurdles requiring getting him out of the studio, tackling the rough terrain of Greg’s backyard, meandering him through a narrow gate, getting past the turtle sand box, through the furnished patio, down the long driveway, up the ramp onto the U-Haul trailer, and then making the two hour drive to his temporary home.

A little poking around on the Vanderblog census revealed that there are currently 1,401 presses listed as having survived to this point in time worldwide, and of them, 25 are 4OS models. Worldwide! That just blows my mind. Thanks for the press, Greg and Jen! And thanks Dad and Uncle for helping me haul this thing.

*Dad’s dolly wheel died from the sheer weight of the press. Rest in pieces, old dolly wheel. You did a good job today.

A quick call to Ramco convinced me to hop in a car and drag my family over to San Dimas, where we met the owners, Adrian and Jayne. Adrian was kind enough to show us around his shop. He even educated me on the process of creating rubber rollers and how he was going to shave mine down to the proper diameter, which he did while we waited. Adrian was even willing to shave down my blue synthetic rollers for Lieutenant Price. You can see the shavings as his machine meticulously grinded down the excess rubber. Soon after, we headed back to San Diego and I was ready to roll.

Remember that rusty old pearl I got for Valentine’s Day? Well look at “Lucy” now. In case you missed the story of how this gem was unearthed, catch up here.

After 25 years of being buried deep in the garage of a Paradise Hills pack rat, this Golding Pearl No. 11 finally got a new pair of shoes. Once we started the process of getting to her, there was no turning back. And when she finally emerged into the light of day, while others would have frowned and turned away, I saw all the potential that she could become. I had to leave town and after two weeks of being away, my dad and uncle managed to strip all the nasty off of her and give Lucy a new coat. Then I had to leave for Seattle, so sadly, I had to part with her again. In the two months I was gone, my dad had managed to outfit her with a new feed/delivery board (with a secret compartment), a cabinet door, and some new wheels. So not only is she polished and new again, but now Lucy is mobile. She and I have a lot of catching up to do. I love Lucy. (I think my dad does, too.)