Gaspereau Press Wayzgoose Pictures

Well, Holy Smokes! (as George Elliott Clarke would say). We had an astonishingly, gratifyingly successful Wayzgoose this past weekend. We lost track counting the visitors somewhere north of 200 people. I barely had the door unlocked and the lights on Saturday morning when a yellow school bus pulled in front of the building and students from Halifax started to disembark. From that point on, the joint was rocking. We had four letterpesses, one offset press, and a hot metal caster busy all day long – making stuff! Here are some photos from the day. Thanks to all who helped to make the event a success.


Three of our guest printers at work: Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr, (in the overalls), George Walker (in the hat) and Jason Dewinetz (in the green shirt, in the back).


Kennedy expounds!


Kennedy Prints! Amos set up wood type on our Vandercook Uni 1 to create a punchy one-colour poster reflecting on our dubious relationship with progress.


A waygooser cranks a sheet through the press.


George Walker (in the hat) shows wayzgooser Emma Barr how to hand ink a wood engraving.


George helps Emma pull the Devil’s Tail on the Albion handpress to print the engraving.


George and I collaborated on this broadside. I set and printed the type and George cut and printed the block, with, in this case, some help from Emma. The broadside concerns the Halifax printer, journalist, politician and champion of the Freedom of the Press, Joseph Howe.


George the showman.


George with his favorite parlour trick: writing backwards.


Adam Steeves explaining the workings of the Heidelberg KORD offset press.


Adam Steeves pulling a sheet off his press.


Jason Dewinetz printing a two-colour broadside of the famous “This is a Printing Office” text which was originally written as promotional copy for the Monotype Corporation. Here he’s using the light of the window to check the registration between the two colours.


Jason printing on our Vandercook 219 press.


A wayzgooser helps Jason to print the second colour on his broadside.


Gary Dunfield employing his stature to fish down one of Amos Kennedy’s posters for a wayzgooser.


While I showed wayzgoosers how to cast slugs on our Ludlow hot metal caster, Maine-based letterpress printer & journalist Hillary Savage printed the slugs on a parlour press.


Making simple blank books in the bindery.


Learning a simple chapbook stitch.


A ‘wayz goose’ is a goose fed on the stubble after the grain has been cut. There was no goose, but I did have a stubbly hair cut.


Just home from a trip to Paris, France, photographer Thaddeus Holownia showed up and made pictures of some of our guests with his 10 x 12 view camera. Here he is with George Walker and Steve Slipp.


Thaddeus also made a group photo of some of the guests, staff and wayzgoosers. (Front, left to right) Julie Rosvell, David Brewer, Michelle Walker, Sue Goyette, George Walker, Andrew Steeves, Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr, (back, left to right) Joe Stevens, Stephen Quick, Adam Steeves, Gary Dunfield, Hillary Savage, Jason Dewinetz, Ceri Sloan, Connie Sheppard.

ANDREW STEEVES ¶ PRINTER & PUBLISHER