The
Permanent Press
For when I print, I know no stint of joy.
The Floyd printing enterprises began at 4656 Cumberland Drive in Savannah, so we named our temporary set-up the Cumberland Press. It was a 10 by 1 5 chase, a few cases of type, Mary' s rolling pin and the kitchen table.
Picot was watching the want ads, on the off chance that somebody would advertise a rare book, a fine antique or raffish dog for $5, and added printing paraphernalia to his list. He was soon rewarded as an old printer decided to get rid of one of his smaller presses, some older cases of type, and some odds and ends. He bought the stuff for the Cumberland Press. We liked printing a book of our four type faces in a limited (signed and numbered) edition of 25. We wrote and printed ' 'poems invitations (in four colors) and any fun thing that came to mind.
It wasn't long before we bought the old printer's 6 by 10 Chandler & Price Pilot Press. One Saturday afternoon, we bought as many as we could fit in the car of the old printer's cases of type.
When Adam, then four, saw the new press being set up in our laundry room, he named it when he asked, "Is this the permanent press?" When we left Savannah in 1971, having used and loved the Permanent Press since 1 969, we decided moving its 400 pounds would be such an imposition on Picot's new employer that we gave it to another retired printer.
He never used it, and returned the Permanent Press in 1974, after we moved to Clearwater. It is set up in the annex, and Picot and Mary Floyd are toiling away joyfully.