1858-1860 GORDON’S ALLIGATOR PRESS
After Stephen Ruggles initially pioneered the platen press, George Phineas Gordon designed his own variations on it that spread more widely across the market and became the standard for platen presses until the 1960s. This early Gordon press, designed in 1851, is one of the earliest platen presses ever created. It had several flaws, though, which Gordon improved on in later models of his platen press. It earned the name “Alligator Press” because the press violently snapped open and closed as it printed. A printer could easily get their hand smashed in this press if they weren’t careful.
The Museum’s Alligator Press was donated by the Nebraska State Historical Society in 1997, which acquired it in 1911. It’s the only one of its kind that still exists.
