The printing industry has a long and interesting history.

The printing industry has a long and interesting history both here in the US and around the world. From small commercial printers here in Racine to giant operations overseas, we all are using the technology and techniques that have been developed over hundreds and hundreds of years.

That led us to realize that many people might know some of the interesting history of the printing industry and the impact that it has had on the world. But this isn’t your average history class, we threw in a few fun facts that are sure to help you at your next trivia night!

Gutenberg didn’t invent the printing press

What?! It’s true!

History books have long stated that Johannes Gutenberg was the inventor of the printing press and began printing almost 500 years ago. In fact, some have even said that his invention is the greatest one in the last thousand years. However, recent discoveries have shown that we might be giving credit to the wrong person. While Gutenberg was the first person to bring the printing press to Europe, there is evidence that the first movable printing press was created in China, almost 200 years earlier. No matter who gets credit for the invention, the printing press was indeed one of the most important inventions ever and changed the world in many ways.

There are some famous printers in our history

During the early part of US history, printing was the only form of mass communication. Whether it was magazines or newspapers, people received their information through the many printing press operators that set up shop, and that includes some pretty famous names.

Before being known as one of the founding fathers of the United States, Benjamin Franklin was actually a printer by trade. He went on to do many incredible things including other inventions such as the bifocal lens.

Another set of famous printers down in South Carolina went on to invent one of the most important forms of travel that millions of people rely on every single day – the airplane.

That’s right before taking off in flight, the Wright Brothers were also printers!

World’s Fastest Printer

Many of us have spent plenty of time sitting and waiting for a document to print at our home and office printer, but speed is starting to become much more common. In fact, printer producers are out trying to set world records.
Today, the fastest office printer in the world is the HP OfficeJet Pro X that printed 500 sheets of paper in 7 minutes and 18 seconds. While that still isn’t exactly a sports car fast, it is still much quicker than most printers.

Ink is one of the most expensive liquids on the planet!

I think we all let out a little groan when our home printers run out of ink and we realize that we are going to have to spend all kinds of money on new cartridges.

Ink is actually one of the most expensive liquids to buy on earth right now coming in at a whopping $2,700 per gallon! That is more expensive than the fuel we use in space shuttles!

Print is still as important today as it was 100 years ago.

There has been a lot of talk about how print is becoming less important and won’t be around for much longer, but we are seeing quite the opposite. Individuals and companies are still seeing how impactful print can be. Still don’t believe us? Check these out.

• 90% of US adults have read a magazine in the last 6 months
• Around 24 billion newspapers are published around the world each year
• Over 700 magazines are currently published in the US
• The response rates for direct mail marketing are 37% higher than email marketing response rates
• Printing has been found to be 43% less annoying than the internet

As you can see, print is still important and is here to stay! If you want to learn more about how we can help you leverage print with your local Racine-area business, let us know!