Packing type for the post

Perfect Packing for sending type! First sent from Three Ton Bridge, a Monotype foundry in Skaneateles, New York, two packages were posted in this outer box to John Christopher at Flowers & Fleurons in Brighton, who split each fount in half, one for himself and the other for me. He used the same box, threw away the polystyrene chips (peanuts), and replaced them with his own packing before posting on to me. The trouble with peanuts and type is elementary physics - type is heavy, peanuts are not, and unless the box of type has its weight spread across a large piece of corrugated board, it will inevitably drift to the bottom through the peanuts and lose the protection they were intended to provide.

Now I've had plenty of type sent to Incline Press through the post, and have too many horror stories to tell, so to get a perfectly packed box is a joy and a blessing, noticed right away! Type is heavy so can easily move in a box and get damaged in the process. This arrived in Oldham without trouble due to a simple rule: the type must be firmly packed to survive! You can see from the photo that first the type is tight and snug in it's own little box, nicely packaged at the foundry, space has been taken up with leads so it can't move. Then the outer box has a firm base of heavy corrugated card with more packing underneath, and the type box is placed on it and again tightly packed on all sides so it can't move horizontally. Then what was done under it, is done again on top. First strong board as big as the outer box so the four corners are protected and the weight spread, then more packing to fill to the lid. Solid foam works, but polystyrene bubbles get crushed, and so do loosely crumpled balls of newspaper. With solid packing, no matter how it is handled, how the corners of the shipping box are accidently mashed, the type is safe and arrives in perfect condition.

Now to use it!