The dependable Linograph

The Linotype machine was a significant improvement over the manual, letter-by-letter typesetting using a composing stick and shallow subdivided trays, called "cases." The Linotype machine operator entered text on a 90-character keyboard. It was invented by Ottmar Mergenthaler.

See Wikipedia article about the Linotype machine: Wikipedia

When Karl retired, he had a Linotype, similar to the one above.

This is also the machine that was used by Herman Kowallis in his work as a typographer in Davenport, Iowa. [Refer to his life history].

When certain Mergenthaler's patents expired in 1902 and 1909, it was legally possible for anyone with sufficient capital to manufacture a machine that would assemble and cast lines of type.

Similar in design and operation to the Linotype, the Linograph is credited with being invented by Hans Pedersen who was born in Denmark in 1872, and who emigrated to America at the age of 10 years with his parents.

Pedersen became a Linotype operator and in 1897 he started a Scandinavian trade composition plant. This is the period that Hans Petersen is credited with conceiving the ideas for a simpler, more efficient machine. After study, sketches, and developing a working drawing, Hans Petersen decided to call his machine the Linograph. The Linograph contributed significantly to the advancement of the typesetting process. It was distributed both nationally and internationally.

A factory was established in Davenport, Iowa, in July 1912 with the help of investors, and one year later in July 1913, the first Linograph was delivered to a newspaper in Iowa.

For a comparison of price at the time, a Linograph was selling for $1500, a Model 8 Linotype for $3500, and a Model 9 Linotype cost $4000.

Karl purchased a Linograph and ten years later wrote the following letter to the manufacturer. It was published by them as an advertising promotion. He said that he set 5000 an hour on the machine on average, but that he was no speed crank.

In 1922 Karl sent a letter to his father in Berlin and wrote the following about his work:

"This has been newspaper day and I finished exactly at five o'clock so I sat down to "set" this letter. It goes faster to write a letter with the machine than to do it by hand. Have you ever seen a Linotype machine? If not, be sure to go and see one for an idea of how it works. It is very interesting. It will not be long until we need a second machine, then we are thinking about publishing a daily newspaper. So it always goes, from one thing to another."