By Kathy (Branen) Tobin
For WNA Weekly Briefing
Growing up in a weekly newspaper family (William and Nan Branen/Burlington Standard Press and several other publications), I started working at an extremely young age. I remember being fascinated and loving the sound of a Linotype in action.
My career continued with community newspapers and ultimately my husband, Larry, and I were publishers of the Tomahawk Leader for 37 years.
A local job printer, Louie Heuser, who worked at the Leader before our time, purchased much of his equipment from the former publisher, Ken Keenan, and opened his own business. Louie continued to operate a Linotype until he retired about a year ago. I visited his shop numerous times over the years and always thought it could be a museum.
I’m now on the board of the Tomahawk Area Historical Society and suggested we add an Antique Print Shop to our historical complex. Louie is thrilled and is donating his equipment. We formed an ad hoc committee and have worked on the idea for more than a year.
After investigating options, we ultimately settled on remodeling an old, three-stall garage already on the society’s property. Remodeling is currently underway. Plans are to have Louie operate his Linotype, Platen Press, Miehle Vertical, (maybe Brandtjen & Kluge), proof presses, composition stone, handset type, lock-up cases and type cases for the public.
Working Linotypes are very rare. Thomas Edison called the two-ton monster of a machine the “Eighth Wonder of the World” as the 1880’s single-line-casting typesetting machine revolutionized the print industries. I’m thrilled we are preserving this treasure from the past that had such an impact on newspapers, magazines, books – the printed word and a free press.
Hopes are to teach the history of print to high school and college/tech school students, hold small classes, perhaps feature artists-in-residence, art fairs, and projects youth can enjoy – making printers hats, stamping and papermaking are among the ideas.
During his 1964-65 term as president of the Wisconsin Press Association, my dad made the commitment to visit all 309 community newspapers in the state. I have his Road Runner Award plaque pinpointing those stops, his own map, and pictures and comments about each newspaper as published in the Wisconsin Press magazine. We will have those displayed in the museum.
I also have information about WNA, Trees for Tomorrow, one of publisher/columnist Bob Wright’s humorous columns about the highs and lows of being a weekly newspaperman, along with other information about H.T. Webster, a newspaper cartoonist from Tomahawk who became world famous.
In addition, we will have logos and printing specific to Tomahawk history, along with printer catalogs and manuals pack rat Louie has filed away.
After my dad died in 1988, my mom created a fund within the WNA Foundation as a way to recognize high school journalism students and their newspapers. Awards have become part of the WNA annual convention ever since.
The Branen Fund has thrived for nearly 40 years, with our goal of continuing it in perpetuity. Believing my mom (and dad) would be proud to have the Branen name connected with this unique antique print shop museum, my brothers, Bob and Shad Branen, and I have made a $15,000 donation towards this project which celebrates local and state print and newspaper history.
Those who grew up or worked with Linotypes will know exactly how I feel: Its clacking is music to our ears and pulls at our heart strings.
My goal has been to share that love of the past — and preserve its history into the future.
Kathy (Branen) Tobin is a UW-Madison Journalism graduate who served as editor for Don Huibregtse at the Monona Community Herald and McFarland Community Life, and as co-publisher with husband, Larry, of the Jefferson Banner and ultimately the Tomahawk Leader for 37 years. She can be reached at kathyatobin@gmail.com.
