While touring the cavernous home of Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum in Two Rivers, I have a realization: This is a hidden gem, the only place in the world dedicated to preserving wood-type printmaking. One of the artistic discipline’s greatest innovators was founded right here in 1880 – J.E. Hamilton Holly Wood Type Company.
The creation of the company, I learn, was accidental. Local newspaper editor William Nash needed to quickly print posters for a ball and couldn’t wait for a delivery of new type from Chicago. He asked J. Edward Hamilton, then an ornamental-furniture manufacturer, to make the decorative type instead, using a scroll saw on his mother’s back porch. Twenty years later, the company was the largest manufacturer of wood type in the country, and by 1970, it still had nearly 2,000 employees.
Tell us who you’d pick to be a Betty this year!
The tour – ranging from one to three hours and led by a volunteer – goes deeper than the machines and jaw-dropping revelations, such as that 1.5 million pieces of wood type created by Hamilton, in more than 1,000 styles, are stored here. Several typefaces were also produced by Hamilton, such as Lushootseed, for the Tulalip Tribe of Washington State to preserve the tribe’s language in written form. It’s not hard to see that American history is embedded in printmaking. During times of war and conflict, posters promoting causes and beliefs were printed on these very presses, too.
A Nearby Must-Stop
After – or before – a museum visit, duck into The High Lift, a cafe inside a former automotive shop in downtown Two Rivers. Think high ceilings and tons of natural light. It’s the perfect pairing for chillaxing with an artisanal drink like salted cardamom latte or coconut cream cold brew, then browsing handmade merch like pottery, candles and jewelry.
The valuable printing presses on display are arranged in order of the process, from a planer for cutting wood to a trimming station for sharpening the angles of letters. Beyond creating wood type, Hamilton Manufacturing made letterpress cabinets to organize these chunky, small pieces of wood. The technology led to other designs you’ll see at the museum, such as dental cabinets and even the first electric clothing dryers.
The tour was well worth the 1.5-hour drive from Milwaukee and the $10 admission. I couldn’t leave without wandering the museum gift shop, which sells posters, T-shirts and more – all celebrating fonts created in this tiny town. When I return, it’ll be for an even deeper dive – one of the printmaking workshops Hamilton offers. I’m ready to get my hands dirty and craft my own little statement.
Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum – 1816 10th St., Two Rivers
Hours: Wed-Sat, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
