Firecracker Press-St. Louis, MO

Next stop on my trip was a visit to Saint Louis, Missouri to see Firecracker Press! Cranking out hundreds of original letterpress and relief prints at two locations, Firecracker runs a super impressive business. I started my tour at the newer North 14th Street location, with Missy Knight, the business manager. I couldn't believe how big the space was! The whole store was lit up with bright natural light from the wall of windows that lines the front of the studio. Something that was especially cool to see was the antique presses and old letterpress machines, some that were over 100 years old. They have over 800 drawers of type, (yes eight-hundred), with all the type and cuts you could ever imagine. Another awesome aspect of the studio is that Central Print Studios also runs out of Firecracker Press. They have just started an open studio program when you can rent time to print, and also give tours and offer classes where you can learn to print and learn about the history of letterpress and the machines throughout the studio. Missy and the other staff members at Firecracker were incredibly knowledgeable and excited to tell me about Firecracker and it was really awesome to meet them!

Next I headed over to the second Firecracker Press location on Cherokee street. The second location is their main retail shop as well as their production space. When I went over there I met Nick, one of the printers, and he showed me around the studio. I got to see hundreds of cards, posters, and other printed goods. All were designed and printed in house and all had a unique Firecracker look, down to the design and color scheme. I really got an in depth look at how St. Louis does letterpress and it was nothing short of spectacular.

https://centralprintstudios.wordpress.com

http://firecrackerpress.com