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That's very interesting to me. I envy you for having been able to work with these techniques, although I'm sure it wasn't all beer and skittles.
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It certainly wasn't. The turn of the century one story factory building was minimally insulated. 12 linotype machines, each with a gallon sized pot of liquid molten lead alloy added to our misery in the summer months, and in the winter, it was so cold in the building that we typed away with fingerless gloves. If a word spacer got twisted in a line of type, the plunger would send a spray of hot lead (called a squirt in the business) towards the operator. It was prudent to wear long sleeved shirts, even in the summer. It might seem strange to say, but I'm thankful for my time at that job. I consider it a privilege to have experienced working with that technology in its last days.