The Ludlow was the main machine for headline composition in the newspaper industry.

A compositor assembled matrices for one line of headline or display by hand in a “Ludlow composing stick.”

The composing stick was locked in to the top of the machine and a molten lead casting pot swung around from below to inject the matrices with molten lead.

Ludlow type was cast type-high like all other type, but to save metal and expedite cooling, most sizes were cast on a 12-pt slug, with massive cantilevers hanging over the top and bottom, which were supported on high spacing slugs.

The  spacing slugs could be cast on the Ludlow machine using a solid blank Ludlow stick or an Elrod-Ludlow caster.

The Ludlow was also ideally suited for jobbing work and with its large array of type faces was great for display work and small jobs like wedding invitations, business cards etc.

A very versatile Typesetting machine and a great recycler of used Ludlow type.

I loved it.

derwombat