Serving Vicksburg, Schoolcraft and Surrounding Areas
Mason Bishop and the Linotype
Mason Bishop, a long time employee of the Vicksburg Commercial-Express, turns 98 on Sept. 7. His family gathered in Vicksburg from Ohio, North Carolina and Ann Arbor to celebrate the occasion in late August and tour the Vicksburg Historic Village. For Bishop, operating the linotype, which he is seated in front of, was one of the hazards of his printer’s trade. This particular machine was donated by Meredith and Bernice Clark to the Vicksburg Historical Society in 1973 and is now housed in the Depot Museum’s print shop. Bishop is one of the very few left who could crank up this machine and show kids how it works. For a number of years he donated his time to help demonstrate how the many pieces of moving type from the hot type era worked.
