MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – With the push of a pedal, Kelly McMahon makes her mark.
“It shines when there’s a little bit of a gentle impression and 100 percent cotton paper,” McMahon said of her beloved craft.
The Montpelier business is definitely not your typical print shop. At least, not anymore. “Letterpress was the mode of printing for something like 400 years,” McMahon explained. While her letterpress machines are antiques, they’re not quite 400 years old. When the world went digital in the ‘70s, letterpress took the back burner. “My youngest press in here rolled off the factory line in 1968. The oldest one — 1911,” she said.
Advancements in technology may have put this process by the wayside, but it paved a path for for small crafters to cash in. Together, McMahon and her tools make up May Day Studio, and they’re an unstoppable specialty duo. “You’ve got to listen for their little squeaks,” McMahon said. “You’ve got to feel if something feels a little off.”
Letterpress is nothing short of an art, though it’s not the art McMahon was expecting to make a career in. She went to school for creative writing, but a rogue class in a print shop led her to this impressive passion. “[There were] two goals for the class, which was — learn how to set some type and learn how to make a book,” she said. “I went at it like 700 percent and fell in love.”
Life brought her to Montpelier by way of Boston, and she found a studio in 2007. Wall to wall, drawers hold all of the intricacies required to make a print. “This case only happens to hold 12 point Caslon Old Style,” McMahon said, pointing out one specific drawer. “If you want italic or bold, they’re in their own case.”
McMahon manually builds each design, letter by letter. She inputs spaces and indentations by hand, carefully adding each period and parentheses in the right spot. Then she mixes the ink and loads the plates into her presses. Whether she’s working on custom wedding invitations or best-selling cards, they’re all made roughly the same way. “Anything you can think of that wants a special occasion, wants to look pretty — that’s what I’m here for,” she said.
The letterpress products cost a couple more bucks than something mass-produced but also offer a texture, emotion and flair not found anywhere else. “In the world where you can buy things off of Amazon for like 99 cents, it feels like a luxury to spend $5 on a card,” McMahon said. “But at the same time, the card is your emissary, it’s a way of speaking to somebody else. I don’t think there’s any way that we can replace that human connection.”
These fun paper goods are sold online and in stores. McMahon also offers classes for those interested in learning the art.