1 PRINT IN THANET - COVER & BACK COVER & TEXT - FLIPBOOK v26 ZZZ - FAW - Flipbook - Page 12
labour, were very different from those of today. These stories have found
their way into this publication by selection, accident, or coincidence and
as a way to preserve treasured memories that have been evoked by the
archive. Some further research into the newspapers of the time and other
archive material has added to our understanding and interpretation. Each
item in the archive can be viewed from so many different perspectives and
this publication is an illustration of some of the ways this material may be
presented.
Echoing the title of the first recorded printed publication in Thanet
in 1795, ‘The Whim, A Comedy in Three Acts’, [6.] this publication divides
these stories into three acts. The first act tells of the growth of the print
industry firms and organisations. It follows some of the stories of just three,
of at least one hundred, different Thanet print businesses, The Thanet
Press [TTP], The Martell Press [TMP] and Magic Ink [MI]. It presents
images of some of the many items that were printed. The second act tells
ten † eleven
Throughout Print in Thanet are the spoken words from oral histories ...
of the training, working and social lives of the print workers to enrich our
understanding of what it meant to be a member of the print workforce
in Thanet. It describes the constant changes in technology that printers
adapted to, and which gradually brought new markets and competition, new
ways of working and a decline in the number of printers in Thanet. However
we notice the legacy of their print based terms and words still used in our
language today. The third and final act tells the story from the present.
The collection and conservation of the archive, some of the interpretation
activities and skills and lessons learned through the Print Works project,
and our working with the expertise of other people. The many images are
collected through the start of the digitisation of the archive, and as such
replicate, rather than pose the items.
We hope that you will explore the archive, either by following
the order of the three acts or by more loosely as your interest
leads you. We hope you will find stories that resonate or that
‘YOUR VOICE’
encourage you to create, remember and share your own
Follow ‘YOUR VOICE’
heritage stories. ◊
suggestions to add
your own voice
to heritage
conversations
