Bar coaster obsession.
We’ve been collecting the antique ones for years
We have a lot of bars here at camp and have always wanted our own coasters. But modern bar coasters are just not made the same (They’re cheap digital smooth and slick and too common to want to keep around - which is why we can only find the best old school designs in antiques shops and flea markets)
So we called up our favorite print master - Gary at @accucolorplus in Milwaukee (who is the renowned expert in antique printing techniques and works on vintage presses).
Gary Printed ours on heavy pulp board on a 1940s press.
Cheers, Campers
---The rest of this is just for design and printing nerds only (straight from Gary)---
“The paper is a heavy weight pulp board- 100% recycled and un-bleached, making it very environmentally friendly.
The print method is letterpress. Given the small size and for one coaster, the round shape, each coaster was hand fed into and out of the press. To keep the inking as full and even as possible, the press let the inking rollers pass over the plate three times before making a printed impression. (The norm is only one pass of the rollers.)
The halftone of the building was tested, using my normal 210 line screen (210 halftone dots per running inch, 44,100 halftone dots per square inch). This fine screen ruling did not work well with letterpress and the resulting printed image was something of a flat gray field. I developed a halftone ruling that is unique to today’s world, but common 70 or so years ago, A 60 like halftone screen, with only 60 halftone dots per running inch, 360 halftone dots per square inch. This course halftone is typical of printed matter up to the 1950’s and even into the 1970’s for newspaper printing. The larger halftone dots, placed further away from each other let the letterpress printing method, on the pulp board stock, render a pleasing halftone image.
The press used is a Craftsman, 12” X 18” maximum print area. Manufactured by the Chandler and Price Company in 1948.”
DETAILS
➕ Coasters measure 3.5" x 3.5"
➕ Sold in sets of 4 of a singular pattern or an assorted set of 6, 2 of each pattern
➕We know the price of these is more than your typical coaster, but the process itself is intense (see printing nerd info above) & the price represents that cost
➕ Made in the USA
The Wandawega Camp Store Shipping Details
If you're in a hurry & expecting next day shipping you might want to go elsewhere. Our tiny Camp team is most likely evicting raccoons from the treehouse or rescuing a lost canoe across the lake. We have a minimum order of $40 & we'll pull, pack & ship orders once a week. We're over the moon that people care enough about our tiny Camp to want some merch, so thanks for shopping, and thanks X10 for your patience with us.