Those pesky tissue sheets on invitations

[Jacque Foreman <foremangraphics -at- JUNO -dot- COM>]

Hi again,

First, thanks to all of you who replied to my bait. This is a fun
digression from deadlines and early networking meetings.

I confess; my father once told me that I was too fond of interesting bits
of useless information. And this, of course, is but one more example.

Megan E. Rock
Electronic Documentation
megan -dot- rock -at- fanucrobotics -dot- com

you would have won the prize for being the closest if I had offered one.
Oh well, how does this sound: $100 off the regular price ($250 + tax - if
in CA - + $10 shipping) of a pen and ink rendering of your home from a
photograph you send me. Or another home of your choice - but I do need a
photograph. [The decision of the judge is final] Samples are available at
the site indicated in my sig.

Her guess was -

In days of old, the ink on freshly printed invitations could
get a bit messy and the paper was supposed to absorb the excess.  At
least
that's what I've always told myself while stuffing graduation
announcements
and the like.  I went with a nontraditional style for my wedding
invitations to avoid the hassle altogether!

********************
This goes to the most expensive of invitations - engraved invitations.
Engraved invitations by their nature must be printed on a letter press.
Unlike offset presses there is (and certainly as late as 25 years ago
was) no mechanism to spray powder on the printed sheets to help the ink
dry and reduce the threat of offsetting of the image from the front of
one invitation to the back of the next. Just the act of carrying a stack
of printed invitations to a drying location can cause this offset to
occur by the accumulated weight of the paper. Therefore, a specially cut
tissue was carefully placed on each invitation as it was deposited on the
tray after it was printed.

At some point, a printer forgot or did not take the time to remove the
tissues or a customer was very anxious to pick up her job and did so
before the printer could take out the sheets. At any rate, this unknown
customer for reasons of haste or lack of understanding directions or no
instruction whatsoever from the printer, left the tissues in place when
putting the invitation in its (most probably) inside envelope. It is my
conclusion that this lady must have been high in the social structure of
the community, or she would have been laughed at rather than copied.

At any rate, the one and only time I have seen these tissues used to good
effect is when I was helping a client gold foil invitations to her
special restaurant grand opening. In this case, the tissues served to
protect the delicate foil from the damage that could have resulted from
just the act of putting it in an envelope.

*******************
Well, that's my story, and, if nothing else, it is plausibly true.

Jacque - Graphic Designer / Typesetter - Making Your Business
Easier since 1972 - Pen & Ink Renderings of homes & Bldgs.
& portraits from photos, Brochures, Ads, Flyers, Packaging, Business
Forms, Manuscripts, etc. - email: foremangraphics -at- juno -dot- com
Rendering Samples: http://www.abacus-es.com/foreman


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