Rhoades Printing Company

When I was younger, my dad showed me how sensitive your fingers can be. He would put a piece of paper between his thumb and forefinger and rub it just a little. His brain remembered the feel of the thicknesses of different papers. Although not as sensitive as he, I learned to easily distinguish between 16 and 20 pound paper.
As a young apprentice at McGowan Printing in Augusta, Georgia, my dad was often called on to answer "What kind of paper is this?" So sensitive was his touch, he could tell the difference within one-half of one thousandth of an inch!! He could tell the difference between 20 pound bond and 50 pound offset (partly by feel and partly by sight- bond has a wire side, offset does not).
Many times his dad or uncle would call on him to make sure they had the right weight paper for the job. And back then paper was more varied: from tissue to 13 lb. manifold, to 16, 20, 22, 24 and 28 weights in the bond papers and 40, 50, 60, and 70lb weights in the offsets.
With the advent of 'quick printers', many weights were forgotten because of lack of usage. And many paper mills would market 50 pound offset as 20 pound bond. Though very close, they are not exactly the same. But most quick printers, who jumped into the business of printing, didn't know the difference any more than the customers did. Things changed quickly with the advent of 'quick printing'.

72 years ago it was an icy, cold, wintry morning. I was in the hospital. Some man slapped me hard enough to make me scream. But neither my mother nor my daddy seemed to care.

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