Category: MWE news

I last posted a general Midwest Ephemera overview about six months ago, so it seemed like time for an update. Looking back at the past year, Midwest Ephemera has come a long way!

As a quick refresher, I’m an experienced (old!) graphic designer who started producing jukebox lettering kits as a pandemic side business in mid-2020. In early 2021, a friend and I bought a printing press and letterpress printing equipment at an auction, hoping to fulfill a longtime desire to learn the craft. Since then, I’ve spent most of my spare time outfitting and organizing the shop, and getting my hands inky learning to print. In March, I incorporated an LLC, “Midwest Ephemera.” I have a creative and fulfilling full-time job and a very supportive family, so I’ve had the luxury of nights and weekends experimenting in the shop without the pressure of immediate commercial success. But the more I print, the more excited I get about it, and the long-term goal of turning this side-hustle into a self-sufficient business becomes more and more realistic.

To that end, I’ve started doing some commercial work, you can see a list of Midwest Ephemera’s projects here. I’m getting more comfortable with the process and materials, and better at predicting the time and expenses involved. I’m looking for more projects and products, and starting to convert this website from a “Jukebox parts” website to more clearly advertise all our services and sell our retail products to the public.

One particular high point of the year came just before Christmas… the completion of our family holiday cards, which served as a proof-of-concept for a product i’ve been dreaming about nonstop since we bought the press, something that I think will set the course for everything else we do. It was months of work, a lot of learning (with a lot of help from friends) and a huge financial investment, but I was thrilled with the result and I have so many more ideas that center around the general concept… (More on that project here)

All in all, it’s been a very rewarding year, I’ve learned more than I thought possible, created several pieces I’m proud to show off, and I go to bed thankful for all the support I have, and with a head full of plans for the future.

I can’t thank everyone enough… my family, friends, customers, and the dozens of printers that got me excited about letterpress printing and selflessly helped to outfit the shop and teach me the ropes. At my age, life doesn’t change much from year to year so this has been a welcome shake-up, and it’s wonderful to be learning something new everyday.

—Bryan, 12/30/2021

I’ve been selling jukebox lettering kits for more than a year now, and Midwest Ephemera LLC has been an official entity for a few months. Seems like a good time to post an update, as an excuse to collect my thoughts, see where everything stands, and have a record for posterity. It may also help as notes for the annual report I need to file every year.

As far as the jukebox lettering goes, we now have four products that cover about a dozen jukebox models. Sales are consistent but slow, which is fine, we knew this wasn’t a growth market, but it’s nice seeing orders come in as people find us, and customers seem very happy with the product. Word of mouth really helps. It’s tempting to do a bit of advertising to see if that works, but at least I’m confident that anyone looking for jukebox lettering will find us. Interestingly, now that my products are out there, a few collectors have started listing NOS lettering on eBay, but I imagine that their supply will dry up quickly, and our kits are more practical for a hobbyist.

Big-picture-wise, I’m still not exactly sure where Midwest Ephemera will take me. I’ve been working at Field Notes/Coudal Partners for 23 years and don’t have any specific intention to leave. The jukebox lettering is (mostly) funding acquisition of letterpress equipment, and I’m taking time to learn the ropes of typesetting and printing. I’ve printed a few small projects, but most of my time at the shop (increasingly limited, I’m back in the office full-time now) has been dedicated to cleaning/fixing/organizing the three batches of equipment my shopmate Matt and I have acquired this year. (Matt is starting a separate company, “C’mon Home,” we’re sharing space and equipment) Here’s an inventory of our three big hauls:

1. Chandler and Price 10×15 platen press, several chases, three motors, two homemade cabinets with about 40 cases/fonts, about 80 pounds of ink, assorted accessories, tools, spacing, chemicals, numbering machines, paper cutter, GBC binder, slug cutter, scale, composing stone. (March 6 & 13, Morris, IL)
2. Cabinet with 150 galleys, lots of leading, perf, and quads, lots of random cuts and type, Two cabinets with 40 cases/fonts, brass spacing case, speed quoins (May 19, Berwyn, IL)
3. Vandercook 3 Proofing Press and accessories, cabinet with 20 cases/fonts, several more unsorted fonts, several books, reglet and furniture cases (June 18, Evansville, IN)

On top of that, we’ve bought/found/stolen pretty much everything else we need to get going. The C&P is up and running just fine, but the Vandercook (which is technically Matt’s, but graciously at my disposal) needs some reassembly and adjustment. I’ve cleaned the insects and mouse nests out of everything. I’ve patched up the the termite damage, and re-sorted and cleaned most of the type. I made draw-downs and labeled and sorted the ink, cleaned and oiled the speed quoins… I’m sure I could busy myself doing anything but printing for years to come!

So, again, things are close to being ready, the real issue now is organizing the space, packing away type we’re unlikely to use, clearly labeling the rest, getting spacing, quads, reglets, and furniture organized… that’s the current priority. We need to be able to find what we need quickly as we work, and move around the space efficiently. As we figure all that out, I’ll sneak in some small fun projects for practice.

I know nothing’s ever perfect and we’ll never finish setting up, there will always be more to do, but I hope to have the shop looking and feeling more organized in a few weeks then I can start taking a few simple “real” jobs, and move forward on the Midwest Ephemera retail projects I have in mind.

In summary, there’s work to do before we really get to work, but we’re getting there, and it’s pleasing to find that the bugs are all working out, and maybe I do know what I’m doing, or at least I know where to find the instructions. There’s always more to learn. It’s been exciting and rewarding so far and I look forward to whatever this turns into.

If you’re a former customer, or came across an old post, or saw our packaging for jukebox lettering from “bryanbedell.com/jukebox”, you may be confused about our new name, “Midwest Ephemera.”

For years I couldn’t find the original lettering kit for my Seeburg LPC-1, so in early 2020, I did a bunch of research and made a set. After posting photos online, other people requested sets, so I made more, and started making kits for other jukeboxes. I’m a graphic designer with a good job, and these kits aren’t raking in cash or anything, but I started thinking about other jukebox and record-related printed ephemera I could design.

Meanwhile, earlier this year, a friend and I chipped in to buy a vintage Chandler and Price platen printing press. (What? You don’t have a 2,500-lb printing press in your basement?) Getting into the swing of very-old-school printing engendered even more ideas for jukebox/record collecting projects.

So it seemed like a good idea to incorporate my various hobbies, freelance gigs, and side hustles into an actual business. Thus, “Midwest Ephemera” is now registered as an Illinois LLC. I offer my services for your design, photography, or printing needs, with more hand-printed, lovingly-designed jukebox and record-collecting products on the way.