Nopestalgia scene notes · 1776
What's wrong in 1776? A colonial print shop in Philadelphia
It is 1776 in Philadelphia. A printer in a tricorn hat and leather apron pulls a sheet from a big wooden hand press while his young apprentice, armed with two leather ink balls, gets the next page of type ready. Freshly printed sheets hang drying on a line across the room, and a fire burns in the brick hearth.
Print shops were at the center of the American Revolution. Pamphlets like Thomas Paine's Common Sense (January 1776) spread arguments for independence, and on the night of July 4, 1776, Philadelphia printer John Dunlap set and printed the first broadside copies of the Declaration of Independence, about 200 of them, which were sent around the colonies.
What belongs in 1776
Every Nopestalgia scene gets a period check before it goes live. Here's what's in this one, and why it fits the year:
- The wooden hand press. Presses of this period were wooden 'common presses' with a large screw that pushed the platen down onto the paper. All-iron presses such as the Stanhope only arrived around 1800.
- Leather ink balls. Before composition rollers came into use in the early 1800s, printers inked type by dabbing it with a pair of leather balls stuffed with wool or hair.
- Sheets drying on a line. Paper was printed damp and then hung up to dry, exactly as shown.
- Type case. Each letter was a separate piece of metal type, set by hand from a divided wooden case.
- Tricorn hat and apron. A tricorn hat, waistcoat, knee breeches and stockings were everyday dress for a working tradesman in the 1770s.
What we kept out
No electric light, no iron presses or rollers, and the hanging sheets are blank so no lettering gives the date away. Only one thing in the picture is allowed to be out of place.
The answer
Show the hidden modern object (spoiler)
The modern object is a pair of wireless headphones. Nathaniel Baldwin built early headphones around 1910; Bluetooth wireless headphones only became common in the 2000s.
Hint, if you just want a nudge: Someone hung up more than their hat. Check the pegs.
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