A Baby Announcement to Treasure

by Fabian Toulouse

Imagine you live hundreds of years ago, when the local grandees commanded the respect of their yeomen and vast estates and looming castles dotted the European landscape. Whenever a special event was to be announced to other lords and ladies, such as a wedding, a banquet, or a birth, it would have been out of the ordinary to announce it by means of a printed card.

Even though Mr. Gutenberg’s printing press was making the printed word more accessible, for some things only handwriting would do. The wealthy would consider it tacky to announce such things as births and weddings with anything less than a personally delivered, hand printed note.

By the end of the 19th century, hand written cards were out of style. Few but the socially prominent could afford to send fine announcements and invitations. If you wanted to prove your wealth, you ordered machine printed cards and baby announcements. So while the tradition of sending announcements has been in fashion through the centuries, the preferred methods have evolved. Today, you can have the best of the past practices combined. Letterpress printing combines the crisp, finely delineated relief printing method of the past with rich papers and an extensive choice of type faces, artwork, and embellishments.

Whether you want to create something very traditional or completely modern, letterpress creates a unique card that stands out from ordinary printing processes. The impression left on the printing surface takes on a definite 3-D appearance not replicable by other printing methods. Though today’s letterpress printers often use computers to create the design and a photographic process to make the photopolymer plate, many craftsmen still feed the paper into the press one sheet at a time, as has been done since the 1400s!

There are not many who practice this labor-intensive print style in the 21st century. If you take the trouble to find one, however, you will assuredly be pleased by the personal service and gorgeous results. Especially for baby announcements, letterpress cards are an inimitable way to pass along the most precious news of a lifetime.

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If you are looking for exquisite baby announcements, make sure you buy from a respected letterpress site.

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