3 ms·

Oh good. I expected to see a chart on the popularity of charts. I was not disappointed. I've got to imagine that printing the early charts on machines largely

• Stratoscope 10y ago
  Once you see how the old printing presses worked, it's pretty clear why there weren't many charts back then. Wikipedia has a pretty good article on it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movable_type https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movable_type And this image search really tells a story: https://www.google.com/search?q=movable+type&tbm=isch https://www.google.com/search?q=movable+type&tbm=isch
  • kahirsch 10y ago
    But there was no problem in inserting graphics and, with offset printing, photos into the page decades before charts became common. Here's a page from 1933: http://imgur.com/Mkzihb6 http://imgur.com/Mkzihb6 But, before computers, the charts had to prepared by hand. Also (unrelated to charts) the movable type was replaced with "hot type" starting in 1886. Newspapers typesetters used a keyboard and the typesetting machine automatically assembled the type molds and poured molten lead into them, producing a slug for each line of type (hence Linotype). https://www.google.com/search?q=hot+type+slugs&tbm=isch https://www.google.com/search?q=hot+type+slugs&tbm=isch The machines are pretty amazing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wHiddZOfa8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wHiddZOfa8 Here's a video about the last NY Times issue that was set using linotypes (in 1978): https://vimeo.com/127605643 https://vimeo.com/127605643