Capping the Balls:
A Glimpse into an 18th Century Print Shop, Part 1

By Mark Barbour

It was the worst job in the entire print shop, one that often fell to the youngest apprentice. Benjamin Franklin hated the task, obligated to perform it while indentured to his older brother James. And the stench from it surely gave a distinct odor to any 18th century printer and his shop. I am speaking of the preparation of the pelts for use on the inking balls.

Prior to 1820, ink was applied to the printer’s letters not with a roller or brayer, but rather with devices known as Balls. Leather was attached to a semi-round piece of wood that had a handle. Holding an ink ball in each hand, the pressman would apply the ink to the letters inside the press with a combined beating and rocking motion.

The creation and preparation of these balls was known as Knocking up the Balls. Preparation of the new pelt, usually sheepskin, was the first step. The young apprentice would work behind the shop and soak the sheepskin in the Pelt Pot, a large jar used for steeping the pelts in urine to soften them. But this was only the beginning of this offensive procedure, for after the pelts were steeped for a day or so, the young lad had to Curry the Pelt: putting it around a twisted piece of iron looking like a large door handle and holding onto each end, he had to draw it back and forth. This rubbing action, called Exercising the Pelt, would make it supple and remove most of the urine.

The pelt was then laid on the floor next to the press and trodden under foot to expel any remaining moisture. A knife was used to scrape the surface clean, and then the pelt was cut into two pieces. Each piece was filled with a quantity of wool and then nailed to the wooden ball stock with a handle. The balls were then ready for use at the press, though each night the pressman had to remember to Cap the Balls—the pelt balls needed to be wrapped in a urine-soaked blanket to keep them soft.

A nastier, more foul job in the print shop could not be found than this preparation of the ink balls. An old printer's proverb of the period spoke truthfully: “The devil would have been a pressman, if there were no Balls to make!” Though this spoke of the young apprentice, or printer's devil, this same offensive task would have even keep Lucifer from among our ranks.

The worst form of discipline to an errant worker in the shop, administered by his fellow workers, was known as Capping the Man. One of the blankets with which the pelt balls were “capped” would be wrapped around the man’s head and tied around his neck. This filthy and disgusting punishment would be reserved only for the most serious offenders.

The process of applying ink to the letters with these balls required great skill and was known as Beating. A dab of ink was placed on the inking table, then the balls would rocked back and forth with a slight rolling motion of the hands, spreading the ink into a thin layer. With the surface of the pelt charged with ink, the rocking motion of the balls was repeated over the type inside the press. The challenge was to evenly ink all of the letters, from one side of the form to the next, from one printed page to the next. A pressman was said to have Beaten Fat when he has placed too much ink on the type, usually caused by Sopping the Balls (putting too much ink on the pelt). Monks were also a problem for pressman, but not in the religious sense: when the pressman failed to smooth out the ink properly on the table, often a blotch of ink, called a Monk, would adhere to the balls and then be transferred to the type and the printed sheet.

In 1813, a rubber-like material called composition was invented as a replacement to the pelts on the balls. Eventually it replaced the balls altogether when the composition was formed in the shape of a roller (composition rollers could be found on presses only twenty years ago). Composition was a mixture of 2 parts glue and 1 part molasses, melted together in a kettle. As a replacement to the pelt, the melted mixture would be poured onto a piece of canvas and when hardened, placed on the wooden balls with a packing of wool, as usual. The composition balls would sometimes develop cracks in their surface after repeated use, which could be remedied by Flaring the Balls. The pressman would take a rolled-up sheet of paper, light it and then use it to carefully melt the surface of the composition and fill in the cracks.

The pressman of the 18th century and before seemed to have been a strong breed, facing working conditions that would terrify the modern employee. Ink balls were certainly one of the curses our earlier brothers suffered under, but they did have their benefit in keeping the devil out of the pressroom!