Sadly, I don't know the roots of my grampa's printing- where he learned to print, what he printed nor where he got a press. In the basement at my gramma's house my grampa built a wine cellar and a "shop"- it's now filled with dusty tools, old spray paint and finger prints from all us grandkids searching for treasures. My gramma told me that he used to keep the press down in the shop, but when I asked for a photo she said she never went down there to take one of him printing.
My grampa was a Catholic and did a lot to help the church and fellow Renoites, the quote above is from the Carmelites of Reno website, a monastery in Reno which started in 1958. I knew he had set up the monastery with their first press and was happy to find mention of him on the website!
"From the time people knew that the sisters had a press, (late 1954 on) we were asked to do small "job work": letterheads for businesses (like Vaughn Millwork [my grampa's business]), business cards, invoices, etc."
I like to think that printing is in my blood and that I'm doing the same printing that my grampa did himself- and that makes me feel pretty good inside.
here is the carmelites whole printing history
