DES Cater was obsessed with letterpress printing and he was the driving force behind the print shop at the Beenleigh Historical Village.
His dedication and passion were recognised last Friday when a plaque recognising his involvement and passion was unveiled.
When Mr Cater became involved the print shop was in a 24-square-metre space inside the village post office.
“The space was hot in summer, freezing in winter, with broken windows, possums living in the ceiling and it had creepy mannequins,” print shop volunteer Heather Ciesiolka said.
The area inside the post office had one printing machine, a guillotine, a trimming saw, a hand-operated proof press and 20 cases of handset type.
Today’s 130-square-metre building has a guillotine, two typesetting machines, four printing machines, a trimming saw, a hand-operated proof press, 120 cases of handset type and various items of ancillary equipment.
Jaye Rose, Beenleigh Historical Village board member and liaison person for the print shop said: “Print shop volunteers and other village volunteers are extremely proud of the new site.
“The new building, which was specifically designed to house these amazing pieces of equipment dating back 160 years, is absolutely brilliant.
“Many pieces were donated by printing enthusiasts and today we are officially opening the print shop and dedicating it to Des Cater, a gentleman who has left a very large legacy to the Beenleigh Historical Village print shop.”
Mrs Rose said it has been a rewarding experience for print shop volunteers to see the faces of younger generations, mainly the visiting school children, when they visited.
“They are all extremely interested in how newspapers formerly got printed and the volume of work that went on to get a newspaper, magazine or general printing out by the letterpress system that was used in a bygone era,” she said.
“The print shop along with rest of the museum will always be an ongoing project, as various old display pieces change and new donations arrive.”
Mrs Rose said her favourite print shop piece is Pearl, a 1930s treadle-operated press.
“The Arab printing machine which was made in 1910, was the first one used by one of our retired printers, Bob Dooley, when he started his apprenticeship with Norco in Byron Bay 55 years ago,” she said.
Prior to joining the village Mr Cater was with the print shop at Pimpama’s Heritage Park where he was interested in anything old.
“He would help out with anything old,” said Danny Palhares, spokesman for the Pimpama facility.
“Des personally assisted me and my family immensely and would always be available to help out.
“He was a great friend and a passionate printer with a vision and he was determined to see his vision realised.”
