For a half century, Hoe and Crabtree letterpresses have helped The Halifax Herald Limited serve the news needs of hundreds of thousands of Nova Scotians.

Several months before the Herald pressroom's transition to a WIFAG OF370 digital press in March, members of Halifax 506M were making ready to print some 70,000 copies of the color Sunday Herald. During the week, they print some 350,000 copies of the morning Herald Chronicle and afternoon Mail-Star dailies.

Although both presses are of historic interest, Hoe in particular set the stage for modern newspaper printing. In 1840, Colonel Robert Hoe of New York invented a press that used the new principle of type placed on the circumference of a cylinder that rotates around a horizontal axis.

To say the Hoe and Crabtree presses were built to last is an understatement. The Herald company bought the presses used some 50 years ago. The three-story web letterpresses, which use polymer plates, can run three colors and print on both sides of the paper.

Press foreman Mark Cassibo said prepping to print a multi-color edition "on these old presses is a major task."

To print black, the Local 506M members change out 100- pound color boxes. It's a struggle on the Crabtree, where the boxes are at the bottom of the press. But the Hoe requires even more effort because the boxes are located at the top.

The Hoe and Crabtree presses require traditional and heavy-duty skills. Mark Cassibo hand cranks a Hoe unit to reverse gears.

Pressmen also do nearly everything else manually–including loading plates, using cranks to reverse gears, and setting color levels.

Press foreman Stephen Kaiser said the new WIFAG press, which is about 50 feet higher than the old presses, will be a different ball game, with pressmen shifting from manual to digital controls. The Local 506M members indicated they are looking forward to the challenge of the new press, but they have no illusions that every day will be a smooth ride. There are always paper jams, web breaks and other challenges to deal with no matter whether the press is old or new.

Like its presses, the Herald company also has a long history. According to the company, The Morning Herald was launched in January 1875 as an upstart competing with five other dailies in a city of 30,000. Four years later, the same company launched the Evening Mail to cover the afternoon market. In 1949, the Herald and Mail merged with their main rivals to become The Chronicle-Herald and The Mail-Star.

Contrary to current trends, the newspaper company has retained its family ownership–by four generations of the Dennis family–and is now the largest independently owned newspaper in Canada.

Press foreman Stephen Kaiser stops on the line of Hoe and Crabtree letterpresses that have been in the pressroom of The Halifax Herald Limited for a half century. The company's newspapers—the morning Chronicle-Herald, the afternoon Mail-Star and The Sunday Herald have a combined circulation of about 325,000.