September always seems to bring a return to routine. Maybe it’s an ingrained “back to school” feeling, but everyone seems to be getting back to work this week—and our presses are busy printing for a variety of businesses.

We’re letterpress printing new letterhead for a creative company, accompanied by custom wax seals; branded cards for a new beauty company’s product launch; and custom note cards for another small business to include with customers’ orders. We’ve also just printed business cards for a rare book dealer, an artist, and a lawyer.

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We love making this kind of work for other businesses. One of our core beliefs is that there’s a lot of beauty in careful craftsmanship and making things by hand. Details like heavyweight cotton paper and letterpress printing are subtle, but they say something about the company that chose them. I always notice when a package arrives with a note on a beautiful card tucked inside. It’s a small detail, but an appreciated one. It feels generous.

Correspondence, circa 1907

I recently came across this stereoscopic photograph in the New York Public Library Digital Collections. Taken around 1906–1908, it shows the General Correspondence Department at Sears, Roebuck & Co. in Chicago, where clerks handled thousands of customer letters each day.

The accompanying text explains how sincerely Sears regarded those letters:

“We have a lively appreciation of the fact that every customer’s idea of us is obtained almost entirely from the letters received from us…”

It goes on to describe the importance of employing people who would correspond with customers with fairness and care.

More than a century later, I love the idea that a company understood its correspondence as an expression of the business itself. The tools have certainly changed, but the idea of communicating with customers thoughtfully still feels relevant.

Business Cards, No Phone Required

We’ve noticed this year that more people are ordering letterpress printed business cards from us—including people who simply want a good-looking card they can hand someone instead of pulling out a phone to share contact information.

We have a collection of designs for personal and professional cards, with your choice of type style and ink color, and the option to add an image to make them your own: [View our business card collection]

Consider it the grown-up version of buying new school supplies each September.