Our boss, John Saville, died a year ago today and as a tribute to him, Fred and I thought we would publish for a wider audience a little booklet we produced with John during the Covid Lockdown – our last project together.
It’s a collection of terms we remembered from our time as young apprentice Compositors in the days of hot-metal – a lifetime ago. We have no doubt mis-remembered some and completely overlooked others so if you have anything to add please don’t hesitate to get in touch. It would be a fitting memorial to a good friend.
And finally, does anyone know why ‘Muttons” and “Nuts”?
Dennis Greeno adds: I read with interest ‘Muttons and Nuts’, recently posted by Philip & Fred. As you would expect, the design and layout by John Saville was excellent although there was one term that did not appear. ‘Gnat’s’ was used to mean a tiny amount and in the composing room it may be used when referring to a page that was slightly shy of the correct depth or for any number of things. I came across it regularly in later years when a colour of the 4-colour process was very slightly out of register with the other three (hopefully spotted on the proofs, not the finished job). There were two other versions, ‘gnat’s whisker’ and a second, normally only used when those party to the conversation were not easily offended, ‘gnat’s cock’. There may be one or two more omissions that perhaps ex-printers/compositors have thought of?
Keith Mayhew adds: Very belatedly I wanted to express my thanks and appreciation to Fred Stubbs, Philip Marriage and the late John Saville for their excellent publication Muttons and Nuts produced during the pandemic and published in HMSOldies in August 2023. It’s a wonderful piece of work, well researched and beautifully illustrated. It brought back so many memories of a bygone era of traditional printing terms and techniques. A very interesting little booklet that I would thoroughly recommend to anyone interested in the history of the industry or just with a natural curiosity about some of the terminology of the time. My apologies for being so tardy in commenting and once again thank you, Philip, Fred and John for such an enjoyable read and for all your hard work in producing it.
Thank you also, Reg and Robert for all you do to keep us informed of events in HMSOldies.
Hello Keith, Good to hear from you, and thank you for your thoughtful appreciation. As you say, Muttons and Nuts is a fine memoir of The Good Times! Best wishes, Reg.
Fred Stubbs adds: Good to read the encouraging comments made by Keith and for him to be in contact – I did work with him, for a short while, when I was in Tech Division. Keith was one of the ‘new’ Printing Technologists. Keep up your good work on the Oldies. Best wishes, Fred