The Stationers Guild

One of the truly remarkable features of fine stationery is the craftsmanship and number of times that fine paper is touched by hand to produce the elegant stationery and invitations that grace important social events. Nowhere is this better exemplified than the craft of hand-bordering.

This year at the National Stationery Show, Crane & Co. will be proudly exhibiting this beautiful craft as Deb Larkin and Sally Rice will demonstrate their hand-bordering technique. I know from past experience visiting Crane’s facilities in Dalton, MA that this is a must-see exhibit and will likely be the signature highlight of the Show. This exhibit will run at the Crane booth from Sunday to Tuesday (May 16th through May 18th). Found below is a short video prepared by Crane historian, Peter Hopkins, demonstrating this beautiful art.

I encourage all stationers and buyers to visit the Crane & Co. booth and revel in this beautiful art form that is gradually being displaced by shoddy digital reproduction and full-bleed digital printing. See and feel the difference of real craftsmanship on 100% cotton paper.  It is well worth noting that Crane & Co. has been recycling for over 200 years.

Sheila P. May
Thérèse Saint Clair

When I think of Crane – actually, Crane & Co. – I think of engraving.  I have visited their printing facility in North Adams, MA a couple of times and have always been fascinated by the artisans who create beautiful engraving dies and the craftspeople who use these dies to print Crane’s distinctive engraved stationery and custom  invitations.  Each year, I look forward to their their engraved  Christmas Tree which often  introduces their personalized holiday greeting card collection.  This year’s Classic Christmas Tree is just another example of Crane’s remarkable craftmaship:

Crane's Engraved Classic Christmas Tree

I think you will agree, that this year’s Christmas Tree is an outstanding example of Crane’s superior craftsmanship.  Each color on the greeting card requires a separate die.  Crane’s skilled printers must apply each color during a separate press run, careful to make sure that each color is  closely registered  to an adjacent color(s) to produce the finished design.   In this case, four separate press runs were required to produce this year’s colorful Classic Christmas Tree.

Peter Hopkins, Crane’s historian and Blogger, has made an instructional video that demonstrates the process of engraving.

Stationery, particularly fine stationery, is “touched” many times by skilled craftspeople.  The level of precision required to produce these beautiful holiday card designs is a tribute to Crane’s talented artisans and their love for fine paper.

For those of you wish to see Crane’s 2009 Holiday Card collection, please visit a stationery store in your neighborhood to discuss all of the customization features offered by Crane.

Several years ago, my wife and I had the opportunity to tour Crane & Co.’s impressive printing and paper manufacturing plants in western Massachusetts.  Crane’s facilities are spread throughout a number of plants and buildings in and around Dalton and North Adams in the Berkshires along the Appalachian Trail.  The rich traditions of this 200 year-old company are literally everywhere.  While most towns have a Main Street, Dalton has Crane Avenue.  For a delightful two hours of American history and fascinating insights into the art of making paper, we certainly recommend a visit to Crane’s Museum of Papermaking.

One of the more interesting aspects of our visit was seeing how engraving dies are made and watching Crane’s skilled craftsmen hand-feed paper through the printing press.  Together with letterpress, engraving is one of the oldest and most traditional forms of printing.  It is often used for wedding invitations, baby announcements and for both business and social stationery.  The raising printing, opaque colors and bruising on the back of the paper are signs that the paper has been engraved.

In this excellent video, Peter Hopkins, who writes the Crane Insider Blog, describes the process of engraving in exceptional detail.  Short of visiting the plant, Peter’s video illustrates the care, craftmanship and labor-intensive process of creating fine engraved papers.

To see the rich colors and beautiful samples of Crane’s engraved papers, contact a Guild member store in your neighborhood for more information.

Richard May
Founding Member