Edwin Alden & Bro

The Model Job Press was patented in 1874 by William Clark and Joshua Daughaday of Philadelphia. While the history of this line of presses is murky at best, most sources indicate that they were manufactured by Daughaday's “Model Press Co.” in Philadelphia until 1884 or 1885.

Around this time, there were a few Model Presses produced that were marked “Alden’s Model Job Press – Cincinnati O.” While it is not definitive, our best guess is that the “Alden” is the Edwin Alden & Bro Newspaper Advertisement Agency of Cincinnati. This company is best know for producing the American Newspaper Catalogue, a list of all the newspapers and magazines published in the United States and Canada. What is unknown is whether Alden’s actually manufactured the press, or just marketed it under their name.

By the end of the 19th Century, it appears the presses were once again being made in Philadelphia by the Model Press Co. Around the early 1900s, the business was sold to the Robert W. Tunis Manufacturing Company and the name was changed to “The Model Printing Press Co.” In 1912, the company was purchased by its manager, W. H. Wilson, and the name was changed back to “Model Press Co.” Unfortunately, that firm went out of business in 1918.

There is also a line of Model Presses in the London that were based on the Clark and Daughaday design. In 1877, a British patent was issued to Carlo Giuseppe Squintani, and Model Presses continued to be produced and sold in the United Kingdom up into the 1960s.

Edwin Alden & Bro Presses:

• Model No. 3 Job Press - Howard Iron Works

• Model No. 3 Job Press - Liberty Press