Aug. 17, 2022

The pandemic halted the presses, literally, at Smith & Smith Co. in northern Sioux Falls.

The third-generation regional print plant works in a wholesale capacity, mostly finishing other printing companies’ work — perforating utility bills, cutting door hangers or foil stamping — with its letterpress machinery.

As the pandemic stopped people in their tracks and forced companies to cancel events and rethink their budgets, Smith & Smith was left floundering.

But instead of deterring Jeff Smith and his son, Joshua, from working, they began playing with the machines and exploring what they could create with the letterpress technology. While Jeff Smith owns the business, Joshua Smith is vice president and general manager.

“We were faced with the choice of doing more of the same that we’d been doing, or we could become more forward-facing and try to do more creative work, more life-affirming work for people who appreciate it,” Joshua Smith said.

Letterpresses, dating back to the mid-1400s with the beginning of mass printing, is different from modern printing in that the machines actually stamp letters and images into the paper.

“There’s just a depth and dynamics to the quality, the light and show that modern printing just can’t do,” Joshua Smith said. “You can get a beautiful image with modern printing, but that is a flat image and will always be a flat image. The letterpress print makes you want to reach out and feel it.”

While work has started to return after the pandemic’s peak, the Smiths are hoping to explore retail and working with creatives in the Sioux Falls area through their offshoot, Notable Press.

They’ve sold posters and cards at arts and crafts shows, fashioned wedding invitations and created custom work since they’ve expanded past wholesale.

And now they’re throwing their doors open this weekend for the Sioux Falls community to experience what the machines do and explore possibilities for custom work.

The event, called Wayzgoose, is fashioned after the historical print shop event of the same name marking the end of summer, usually held on or around Aug. 24. While Sunday’s celebration doesn’t last for several days or include feasts, it does include food from Salas Salsas and craft beer from Severance Brewing Co.

The doors will be open from noon to 4 p.m. at 1801 N. Louise Drive with chances to letterpress work yourself, enter a drawing for a custom print project and more. While not something to fill an entire afternoon, it’ll be an exciting half-hour, Jeff Smith said.

“I think anybody who will walk into our shop during the open house, seeing the machines running and smashing into paper, will be fascinated with the process,” Jeff Smith said. “One of the presses running will allow for people to step up, pull the crank themselves and walk away with ‘something I printed.’”

Joshua Smith has started working with artists to see what the limits of the letterpress are. He recently worked with Mike McKenzie, or Laser Enzo, to press pieces of wood art into paper. The wood grain is visible on the stamped pieces, which excites him about what they can explore.

He hopes to partner with more artists, designers and event organizers after Wayzgoose. He’s currently exploring a series with visual artists and literary artists to create posters.

“In a vacuum, we don’t have anything to print unless it’s on our own. It’s way more exciting to gather people doing creative work and showing that work through a different lens,” Joshua Smith said. “I’m excited about dragging as many people as I can into this process.”