BAKER'S BREAKFAST COCOA - LETTERPRESS PRINTER'S BLOCK - RARE / UNUSUAL ITEM

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BAKER'S BREAKFAST COCOA.LETTERPRESS PRINTER'SBLOCK - RARE / UNUSUALLead-based Letterpress Wooden Printing Block.NOTE: If you want to purchase a piece of American chocolate advertising, don't buy an image ripped out of some magazine or newspaper. Instead, buy the printing block that printed the actual image!Prior to the digital age, books, posters, tickets, forms, newspapers, and other types of printed paper were produced on a printing press . Movable type and wooden / metal printing blocks (also known as a letterpress cut or printing dies ) were set in a frame (known as a chase ) and ink was rolled over the surface of the metal image with a roller (also known as a brayer ) before the paper was pressed into the inked surface. This process was known as relief printing which included woodcut, relief etching, linocut, linotype, and metal cut .You are purchasing an EXTREMELY rare / unique, letterpress printing block likely intended for use at an American newspaper to print this company's advertising - - likely for a local grocery store. Starting in the late 1800's (and up through the mid-1900's), manufacturers would furnish their customers (usually at cost) letterpress printing blocks - - - so the local merchant could promote their products. Distribution of these blocks were restricted to only authorized retailers - so that the local hardware store, jewelry store, grocery store or other retailer - could provide highly detailed images to print in their local newspaper.This unusual wood and metal letterpress printing block measures 0.91" deep by 1.305" high by 1.025" wide and weighs approximately 1.6 ounces (45 grams). This stamp is a professionally made, letterpress block used for printing. It shows some surface wear from being in the press. Based upon the other blocks within the group, our research and this block's composition, this block is believed to have been produced and used during the 1940s. Although you will be receiving the entire wood and metal printing block, the images you are looking at are high-resolution images of just the block's metal printing surface (so that you can see the considerable detail).A LITTLE ABOUT THE BAKER'S: Baker's of Dorchester, Massachusetts was established in 1780. The likeness of a woman carrying a tray of cocoa (La Belle Chocolatiere) was a registered trademark of the company. An advertisement in the January 16, 1924 edition of The Gazette (Montreal, Canada) indicates Baker's also manufactured in Montreal.James Baker had manufactured chocolate for a number of years prior, but 1780 was when the first chocolate branded as "Baker's" was introduced. This first, pure, unsweetened chocolate later became known as No. 1 Premium, a cornerstone Baker's product that has survived into the twenty-first century. In addition to the No. 1 Premium Chocolate, Baker's sold No. 2 and No. 3 varieties as well. No. 1, originally unnamed, was later called Best Chocolate after a lesser grade of chocolate was developed. No. 2 (Common Chocolate) was introduced in 1798, followed by No. 3 (Inferior Chocolate) in 1803. No. 2 and No. 3 were of lesser quality and No. 3, prior to 1865, was mainly supplied to slaves in the southern United States and the West Indies. This chocolate, which sold at almost half the price of the No. 1, contained so much ground rice that it produced a very thick and muddy chocolate drink.It is not known exactly when Baker's first introduced their Breakfast Cocoa, but a mention of a Prepared Cocoa (or "Pd Cocoa") is found in 1835, along with a W. Baker's Powdered Cocoa in 1847. Over the years it was touted as a pure, healthful, and strengthening drink. No chemicals were used in its preparation and its easy digestibility made it palatable for "invalids as well as persons in health." Breakfast Cocoa became one of Baker's best-selling products and remained popular until 1952, when it was discontinued and replaced by a different cocoa mix.While researching Baker's, we discovered the chocolate (and chocolate drink mix... read more

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