Dan Wood Collection of Amalgamated Printers Association Ephemera (MSS020)

Historical note

The Amalgamated Printers Association (APA) was founded in 1958 by cousins Michael J. O’Connor and Roger V. Ralphe in Hastings, Minnesota. Originally founded as an organization for amateur journalists, it quickly became a membership organization for letterpress printing hobbyists, comprising both amateur and professional printers.

The APA has a limited membership of 150 members, with prospective members on a waiting list until a current member leaves the organization. At induction, the new member is given an APA member of a departing APA member. The main activity of the organization is the exchange of print samples between the group’s members. Participation in the mailing is compulsory; each member must participate at least four times a year. Every month each member sends 160 copies of a piece of work to a coordinator or "mailer", who then creates a bundle for each member that features one copy of each submission. The mailer might use the position as an opportunity to create a decorative envelope to hold the monthly bundle. The organization also sponsors printers’ contests, a newsletter, and an annual meeting called a “Wayzgoose.”

APA Member Dan Wood, the donor of the Amalgamated Printers Association Ephemera Collection, is a professional printer and founder of DWRI Letterpress, a letterpress print shop in Providence, Rhode Island. He became a member of the APA in August 2001.