THE LUDLOW IN GERMANY - A TESTIMONY FROM OVERSEAS - BY SEPP WUNDSHAMMER

Sep 21, 2026

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The Ludlow in Germany presents a testimony from overseas by Sepp Wundshammer of Du Mont Schauberg in Cologne, describing the installation and operational impact of the Ludlow typesetting system. It explains how placing the Ludlow near linotypes improved the legibility of display lines and headlines, reduced defective characters, and supported more reliable newspaper and advertisement composition. The text further outlines workflow changes for makeup teams, proofing responsibilities, efficient casting of typographic materials, and the value of the accompanying saw in saving time, space, and production cost.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages19

Reading Time48 min

AccessFree to download

TECHNICAL MICROFORM DATA

THE LUDLOW IN GERMANY

A TESTIMONY FROM OVERSEAS

new composition, why should an ex-ception be made of the remaining portion?

97-84076-20Wundshammer,Sepp The Ludlow in Germany Chicago # COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIESPRESERVATION DIVISIONBIBLIOGRAPHIC MICROFORM TARGET ORIGINAL MATERIAL AS FILMED-EXISTING BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD RESTRICTIONS ON USE:Reproductions may no be made without permission from Columbia UniversityLibraries. ## TECHNICAL MICROFORM DATA FILM SIZE: mmREDUCTION RATIO: 9.1 IB B IMAGE PLACEMENT:IA DATE FILMED: 5-7-97INITIALS: 6 TRACKING\#: 23856 ## THE LUDLOWIN GERMANY A TESTIMONYFROM OVERSEAS BY SEPP WUNDSHAMMER OF DU MONT SCHAUBERG COLOGNE,GERMANY 。 CHICAGO LUDLOW TYPOGRAPH COMPANYMCMXXVIII INTENTIONAL SECOND EXPOSURE THE LUDLOWIN GERMANY A TESTIMONYFROM OVERSEAS BY SEPP WUNDSHAMMER OF DU MONT SCHAUBERGCOLOGNE,GERMANY F CHICAGO LUDLOW TYPOGRAPH COMPANYMCMXXVIIl aunm4-9.28 OEhelcdiprinilof Germany is he houte of DuMon Schauberg at Cologme.Sezcralyears ago,this organization installed aipand heience with it is reported on by SeppWandshammer,in the July-August,1927,isue of“Der Moderne Buch-drucker."As his article constitutes anabsolately impurtial statement on theLadlote and its advantages and dis-advantages,e haee wade ofit a lit.eral translation,which is presentedherewoith: eH一A口5b1,3① 个wO years ago we installed aILudlow.I placed the equipmentin the composing machine room in or-der to make the linotypes more useful.Up until this time the Ludlow wascompletelyunknowntous.Whenit wasinstalled it was a certain disappoint-ment to me,for I could not grasp itsgreat simplicity.I had conceived it asa complicated apparatus with thousandsof parts.But,much to my gratifica-tion,it proved the essence of simplicity. Now why did I place the Ludlow inthe room with the linotypes?Simplybecause the employees in that room [5] were already familiar with hot metalcasting and it seemed a similar opera-tion would thus be performed mosteconomically. ## new composition,why should an ex-ception be made of the remainingportion? At just the right moment the Lud-low arrived.Now display lines andheadlines stand out in the paper as ifthey had been cut with an engraver'stool.Complaints regarding illegiblelines and missingletters havedecreasedto a minimum. Up to this time 90%of the news-paper composition had been done bymachine,giving every day new type,always type high,and with a sharpprinting face.Advertisements andheadlines set by hand and introducedinto the linotype composition nevergave the best results.At the right time,or rather at the wrong time,defectivecharacters showed up,some of the typeprintedgray,while some did not printat all.This was a disadvantage notonly to the printer but also to the readerand,last but not least,to the adver-tiser.Naturally,there were oftencomplaints regarding the defectivelegibility as related to the large expenditures for advertising.And notunjustly.As the greater part of thenewspaper was printed everyday from This was one of the first reasonswhich later on proved to be a good one.why I placed the Ludlow in the lino-type room.In addition to three dozenbody type machines there are abouttwelve more linotypes working on display composition and advertising copyTheselatter aretwo and four magazinelinotypes.The two-magazine machinesare equipped with a body type and atype twice its size,to be used for two-line letters,while the four-magazinelinotypes handle larger sizes.The typesof two-line size or greater are not used to anything like the extent towhich the magazines of body type areused.To obtain the best results,achange in plan appeared to be neces-sary.Careful calculation showed thatone or two magazines lay idle for toolong a time.Why keep a magazinewith 24 point or 36 point type in orderto set a line or two once in a greatwhile?Here again the Ludlow proveda great help.I chose a few of themakeup men to operate

FAQs

What prompted Sepp Wundshammer to install the Ludlow system?

He chose to place the Ludlow in the linotype composing machine room so employees already familiar with hot metal casting could operate it efficiently.

How did the Ludlow affect newspaper display lines, headlines, and readability?

After the change, display lines and headlines stood out more clearly, while complaints about illegible lines and missing letters decreased to a minimum.

What workflow and responsibility changes are described after installing the Ludlow?

Linotype composition was delivered to makeup men who completed it by casting lines in larger sizes and preparing advertisements; pulling proofs and making corrections were left to the makeup man rather than the operator.

Sep 21, 2026

Upload by Hazel