Images(5)

Block, Printing

Object number2017.97.14

MediumMetal; Adhesive; Paper

Credit LineGIft of the Graphic Communications Conference-International Brotherhood of Teamster's Local 24M

DescriptionRectangular silver metal block. One face has applied gray metal plate with raised text including union label at top; text is reversed; background of plate has dark brown tape applied. Surrounding plate are areas of dark brown adhesive, some with paper attached to top. Reverse face has two recessed holes.DimensionsHeight x Width x Depth: 2.688 x 5.563 x 0.938 in. (6.8 x 14.1 x 2.4 cm)
InscriptionsPlate applied to front face has raised text in reverse "R / GRAPHIC COMMUNICATIONS / UNION GCIU LABLE / INTERNATIONAL UNION / GRAPHIC COMMUNICATIONS / INT'L. UNION / PGH. LOCAL 24".
Historical NotesPart of a collection from Local 24 of the Graphic Communications Conference-International Brotherhood of Teamsters. The national union descends from the National Typographical Union which formed in 1852 and became the International Typographic Union in 1869. The union splintered in the late 1890s/early 1900s into several unions representing pressmen, bookbinders, stereotypers/electrotypers, lithographers, and platemakers, before slowly merging back together over the years. In 1983, the Graphic Communications International Union formed from the merging of the Int. Printing and Graphics Communication Union and the Graphic Arts International Union. Finally in 2005, the GCC union merged with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters to create the present-day organization. Local 24 started in the early 1900s as a group of Lithographers in the Pittsburgh area. In 2016, they downsized their offices and moved from Uptown to Three Mile Run, and in the process, donated their records and this collection of artifacts. Most of the material donated was made by the union such as buttons, posters, stickers, flat product sheets, and two printing sheets that show the change in printing technology from raised letters to flat sheets.

Related institution Graphic Communications International Union

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