The restoration of the Acworth Depot freight scales has been a exciting project at the Red Onion Press. We have learned a lot about the history of the scales, how it works and how old it is. Even though the Acworth Depot had gone through a couple of major changes over the years, the Howe Scales were built sometime after 1870 and before 1888, when the depot scale went through a major design change. See the transformation below:
Using a wire brush and etch to remove rust and grime from the columns
The scale parts stacked around our worktable
Repairing the wood damage involved replacing the floor boards and back board.
Solid oak boards that make up the frame of the scale held up well, but the thinner floor boards had to be replaced
3/4 inch oak floor boards were a good fit!
Each steel part had to be wire brushed, coated with rust remover and painted with an undercoat.
A lot of parts!
Including the columns
When we removed the rust on the scale plate we found the reference to the patent in bold letters.
The scale restoration so far. working from the bottom, we are now ready to attack the “cap” or top of the scale.
Last Sunday a group of young Girl Scouts learned about the history of printing through the world of printmaking and letterpress at the Red Onion Press. Contact the Red Onion Press if you are interested in scheduling an afternoon or weeknight workshop for your group of youth or adults, artists or beginners. All are welcome!
Picking up the pace a bit....
The Restoration project is underway! This month we assembled the scale and did some tests to see how and if the scale works. Below is the first of several videos that we will produce to keep you informed as to our progress. Please feel free to share!
In the process of cleaning the letterpress type drawers we received from the Galloway family, I noticed that the bottoms of several drawers had delaminated. Looking underneath I discovered several eight legged critters hiding so I decided to check all the drawer bottoms. A couple of the drawers had the legend Jackson G. Smith, Barnesville GA painted on them. Since Sam Galloway's presses were nearly 50 years old by the time he had his shop on Main Street, we were curious where they had been before Sam started his letterpress business. According to Betty, Sam's daughter he probably purchased his type and presses from a used equipment dealer in the area.
Ad from the July 2 1891 News-Gazette
We did an internet search and found a wealth of information about Jackson G. Smith from the city of Barnesville website. Jackson G. Smith is the name of one of Barnesville's leading citizens at the turn of the 20th Century and owner of the J.G. Smith Buggy factory. During the late 19th and early 20th Century, Barnesville GA was known as the Buggy Capital of the South.
Now doesn't it seem likely that a factory in a town where over 9,000 buggies were produced annually in 1900 would have it's own printshop for business and marketing? While we don't know if Sam's press also came from Barnesville, it certainly is possible, since it was manufactured in 1902. The heyday of buggy manufacturing ended as the automobile replaced the horse and buggy and that would explain why the type and presses ended up in Sam's shop in Kennesaw years later. The Jackson G. Smith Factory and commissary building still stands in downtown Barnesville according to the City of Barnesville Website.
(The Red Onion Press has been commissioned by the Save Acworth History Foundation to restore the old Acworth Depot Scales. Follow the progress on our Blog News or Facebook Page.)
In 1969, shortly before the old Acworth depot, long abandoned by the railroad, was cut in half and discarded on the other side of Main Street, Moose McCray and a few friends rescued the old depot platform scales and moved it into a shed nearby where it languished for nearly 50 years. Despite the ravages of time, the well built frame and solid steel castings have held up well. The history of these scales tell a lot about innovation, history and the lives of the people who used them.
In the 19th Century railroads were the major arteries of commerce in our young nation. And every manufacturing center was connected to this network by their local freight depot.
As goods were transported through the depot, the weighmaster was as important as the engineer and conductor to trade. Most freight depot's had a platform scale large and sensitive enough to establish a weight and value to the goods in transit. One of the most celebrated manufacturer in the late 1900's was the Howe Scale Company of Rutland Vermont. Their workshop stretched nearly as long as the entire town and was the largest employer in the area.
The depot platform scale was a simple mechanical marvel, a system of levers and fulcrums that allowed the device to compare a known weight to shipping container hundreds of pounds heavier and accurately measure it. The Howe scale was celebrated in the 1850's as one of the best and most accurate scales on the market.
Winning the Grand prize among worldwide manufacturers at the Paris Exposition in 1857, the scale benefited from a unique patented device, a ball and socket joint above each corner of the platform plate which absorbed and cushioned the effects of loading and unloading the scale on the bearings.
To minimize friction, the load bearings were made from hardened steel rods ground to a knife edge.
The knife edge bearings or pivot bearings as they were called allowed the scale to handle the sizable loads that were necessary. Howe scales were used to weigh everything from railroad cars, canal boats to cotton bales and tobacco crops in the south.
The image below is a cutaway drawing of a Howe Railcar Scale from the late 19 hundreds. Note the ball sockets and large levers.
Poppi, Hugh and I drove up last weekend to retrieve Sam Galloway's press and more than 20 drawers of movable type font donated to the Red Onion by Galloway's family. We knew this was going to be a challenge, because we had seen how the press had been trapped under the roof of a tree struck demolished house. (All photos by Brian Gaukel)
Last year we had rescued a letterpress in Acworth, that was found in an old shed on Old Stilesboro Road. After learning that the press had been one of two letterpresses that Sam Galloway had in a printshop that he operated in Kennesaw in the 1960's and later in Acworth. In 1985 Sam Galloway had moved one of the presses to Summerville, leaving the second one behind with his son, James Galloway who was also trained as a letterpress printer. When Sam died suddenly, James and his wife Nena moved to Summerville, leaving the Old Stilesboro press behind. After seeing how the Red Onion recovered and restored his press, James Galloway offered the second press and all the type to the Red Onion.
The day of the move was cloudy, but the rain held off. James and his family gathered on the lawn to watch the careful roof demolition. This was a special day for James and his wife Nena; their 50th wedding anniversary!
The Press and type made it safely back to Kennesaw
We are very grateful to the Galloway family for this wonderful gift!
High School and Middle School students started a two day introductory workshop on printmaking and letterpress at the Red Onion Press this week. The classes include a background to the history of letterpress, going back to Gutenberg and a demonstration of printing terms and concepts using movable type and tools. Students also got a chance to view the Red Onion's 100 year old presses in operation. Next week during the second half of the workshop, each student will trace a drawing and prepare a plate that he or she will print on the shop's flatbed press. Contact the Red Onion Press if your school or group would like to schedule a printmaking workshop. Call (770) 676-4156 or email at redonionshop@gmail.com
Photos from Sunday's demonstration of the "Old Stilesboro" Letterpress at the reception for Sam Galloway and the return of Letterpress to Kennesaw. These great photos show the sequence of operation of the old platen style letterpress just like how Sam and Jimmy Galloway printed years ago at their shop on Old Highway 41, just south of North Cobb High School. These photos were taken by Mr. David Ibata of the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
With the help of our friends in the “Save Acworth History” Facebook Group we know now the history of the “Old Stilesboro Road” letterpress. It all started with former Acworth and Kennesaw resident, Sam Galloway who passed on in 1987. (Pictured below circa 1970)
Sam had a print shop that he moved several times in and around Kennesaw and Acworth at various times. According to his son James (Jimmy) Galloway, letterpress printing was in Sam Galloway’s blood. He worked for many years for the Cartersville Tribune as a photo engraver. In the early 1960’s the printing industry was going through a major technological change, as more and more shops started using offset printing. Offset in the printing and publishing industry was almost as major a change as was the introduction of cars over horse and buggies. Lots of shops went out of business and many a skilled pressman hung up their aprons. Sam Galloway was stubborn and not one to cotton to new ways. Several people told me that Sam never got used to daylight savings time. His clock always remained the same. He chose to retire from the newspaper and started working for the old Blair Chair factory in Marietta which was located in the what is now the Brumby lofts on Church street. Seeing an opportunity, Sam offered to print the tags that were attached to the upholstery under the seats. Sam found an old letterpress from the turn of the 20th century and parlayed it into a print shop business on the side. He printed hundreds of tags with drawings of the various chairs.
Sam Galloway in the 1970's (family archive photo)
Sam and Clara’s home was on Old Stilesboro Road. They moved there in 1946. Their children, James, Faye (passed away 2007) and Betty went to Acworth Elementary School. Betty graduated from North Cobb High School. Sam set up a print shop and ran a grocery store on Old 41 Highway between Kennesaw and Acworth to do general printing for local businesses and the public. Betty met her future husband Don at the store. Don’s grandfather T.W Arnold was the previous owner of the store. In the 1970’s Sam and Clara sold the store. James also moved nearby in a house on Stilesboro. Sam and James were planning to set up a father and son shop in Acworth, and purchased a second press, slightly smaller for James. In 1985 Sam moved up to a house outside Summerville and took his press and most of the type up there. James told us how they removed the back end of the ½ ton press and laid it down in the bed of the truck on a pile of papers. That press is still in Summerville, but when Sam died in the late 1980’s and James and his wife Nena moved up to Summerville to take care of his mother, his press had to be left behind. Without Sam, there was no way James could move it on his own. Planning on retrieving it someday, he had taken the press apart and moved it into the old shed, which is why the threads on many of the machines bolts were still loose when we brought it out to daylight. James Galloway saved the drawers of movable type that the Galloway print shop accumulated and has offered to donate the type and Sam’s press to the Red Onion Press.
