Frank Romano goes into a little bit of newspaper history—who (or what) is ETAOIN SHRDLU? This legendary set of letters would occasionally appear in newspapers (and VERY occasionally appear in print books). What is it and what does it mean? Frank explains.
EDITOR’S NOTE: for a much more in-depth exploration of hot type, here’s a film from the last day of hot type production on the New York Times. It’s a great time capsule and a great explanation of hot type (Linotype) and the shift to cold type (paste up). As one who was brought up in the waning years of cold type, I watch this and can almost feel the adhesive wax under my fingernails.
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