The Penrith Museum of Printing has launched into 2024 with a flurry of activity, showcasing numerous enhancements and a bustling schedule of tour bookings. Our inaugural tour of the year, hosting over 30 guests from SydWest Multicultural Services, was a resounding success, complete with an interpreter to enhance the experience. The enthusiastic reception of this tour reflects the strong interest we've observed, with a significant number of tours already scheduled for the year.

We're thrilled to announce the return of our popular Poster, Typography, and Letterpress courses. For those interested in joining, we invite you to reach out to us to arrange dates that suit you. Last year's participants found these courses immensely satisfying, offering a unique, creative experience packed into a single day.

Our tours are a hands-on journey through history, led by our dedicated team members. Guests are immersed in the live process of letterpress printing, a revolutionary technique pioneered by Gutenberg. This method, which played a pivotal role in disseminating knowledge from the 1400s to the 1880s, remained largely unchanged for over 400 years until the advent of the Linotype machine in the 1880s. We proudly display and operate a Linotype machine, often hailed as the eighth wonder of the world, for our visitors to witness.

A highlight of our recent additions is the operational Heidelberg Cylinder, formerly of the Dorrigo Gazette, which printed Australia's last letterpress newspaper until 4 July 2023. Following extensive servicing, it's now a key feature of our tours, complete with the last printed pages it produced.

We've also revamped our layout for an enhanced visitor experience, including a new kitchen, fresh paint, and a new composing room type case cabinet, which is our next restoration project. These improvements, along with the Gayfield Shaw press displayed in our foyer, contribute to our mission of celebrating this incredible invention.

Our museum has been fortunate to display facsimiles of the Gutenberg Bibles and several rare books, with more to come this year. The support from the industry, through sponsorships and donations, has been instrumental in maintaining our status as Australia's largest living Print Museum. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to IVE Group, Penrith Paceway, and all our Gold, Silver and Bronze supporters.

Our fundraising efforts, particularly the Mycause campaign for the Dorrigo Press, have been tremendously successful, raising $5k in just two weeks. We owe a special thanks to everyone who contributed.

We're also focusing on engaging the younger generation, with increasing participation from high schools, Steiner schools, and home school groups. Our goal is to expand this demographic, emphasizing the importance of history.

Following last year's success, we plan to continue showcasing our 1890 Pearl letterpress and typesetting experience at various events, including Rare Book Week, Australia Day at the Arms of Australia held at Emu plains, STEAMfest in Portland, State Archives, and the Visual Impact Exhibition.

As our membership grows, we invite those interested in preserving this vital part of history to join us. Our commitment remains steadfast: to preserve the past for future generations to enjoy and learn from.

Bob Lockley

President, Penrith Museum of Printing.