Need a poster printed? Try Hatch Show Print Shop! Since 1879, the Hatch Show Print Shop has created original posters at their shop on 5^th Avenue South. The shop continues to produce poster designs through traditional letter pressing. In the midst of the digital age, the Hatch Show Print Shop brings new life to an old printing process.

In 1879, brothers Charles and Herbert Hatch opened the Hatch Show Print Shop with the slogan, “Advertising without posters is like fishing without worms.” The brothers hand carved images from the letterpress, advertising local businesses with catchy designs such as “whole hog” sausage and “easy starting” gasoline. However, by the 1920s, the Hatch Show Print Shop began producing more posters for country music than any other business.

Over the years, the shop has printed thousands of posters for musicians, sports teams, vaudeville shows, state fairs, stock car races, and picture shows. Some of Hatch Show Print Shop’s most famous customers included Elvis Presley, Elvis Costello, Buddy Guy, Johnny Cash, Bruce Springsteen, Etta James, Emmylou Harris, B. B. King, and the Carter Family. More recently, the shop has printed thousands of posters for country music and pop artist Taylor Swift, as well as the rock band Coldplay. The shop also produced 100 posters in one night for the 2010 Brooks and Dunn Last Rodeo Tour.

Today, the Hatch Show Print Shop has a museum dedicated to the historic letterpress industry and the famous work done at the shop since 1879. The shop also continues to produce posters for more than 600 clients per year. These now include wedding invitations, cards, and even presidential election posters sponsored by CNN. The shop is now supported by the Country Music Hall of Fame and reprints the older designs once actively printed by letterpress at the Hatch Show Print Shop.

Script written by Michelle Richoll.

Credits and Sources:

“The Art of Letterpress: Hatch Show Print’s work fills BU Art Gallery,” last modified September 9, 2010, http://www.bu.edu/today/2010/the-art-of-letterpress/.

“American Letterpress: The Art of the Hatch Show Print,” accessed April 8, 2015, http://www.sites.si.edu/exhibitions/exhibits/hatch_show_print/main.htm.

“Carving a Niche,” last modified Fall 2006, http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1180&context=iwumag.

Karen Taylor, “Letterpress,” last modified 2009, http://www.saddleback.edu/uploads/cte/collaborative/media/Taylor-Externship.pdf.