PRICES F.O.B. READING
BICKEL & SONS
MARKING DEVICE WORKS
RUBBER HAND STAMPS · SELF‑INKERS · NUMBERING MACHINES · STENCILS · BRASS & STEEL DIES
EFFECTIVE MARCH 1
DIE SHOP IS RUNNING SIX DAYS. Hand stamps go out in four working days from the day your wording reaches this desk. Write your wording in BLOCK CAPITALS on the blank at the bottom of this sheet. Do not send a pencil sketch. We have to set it in type and we cannot set a sketch.
HAND STAMPS — RUBBER, PRICED BY THE LINE
You are buying lines, not words. A line is a fixed vertical allowance in the mould: 3/16″ at 8 point, 1/4″ at 10 point, 5/16″ at 12 point. The price steps up at every line boundary and it does not care how short the last line is. RECEIVED / PARTS DEPT. / DO NOT PAY TWICE is three lines whether that third line runs nineteen characters or two.
| LINES | 8 PT. | 10 PT. | 12 PT. |
|---|---|---|---|
| ONE | .45 | .50 | .55 |
| TWO | .62 | .68 | .75 |
| THREE | .79 | .85 | .95 |
| FOUR | .96 | 1.10 | 1.35 |
| FIVE | 1.13 | 1.28 | 1.55 |
| SIX | 1.30 | 1.46 | 1.75 |
| EACH ADD'L LINE | .17 | .18 | .20 |
Count your spaces. We are going to count them too, and we would rather you did it first. A space is a character and it is charged as one. Ten‑point Gothic runs about 14 characters to the inch counting spaces; 8 point runs 17½; 12 point runs 11.6. That is set width, not opinion. This is the whole reason every stamp anybody has ever ordered says PARTS DEPT. and not PARTS DEPARTMENT.
SELF‑INKING & NUMBERING MACHINES
| CAT. | DESCRIPTION | EACH |
|---|---|---|
| 214 | SELF‑INKER, 4 stock die sizes, holds own pad | 2.35 |
| 214‑L | Same, extra‑wide 2¾″ die | 2.75 |
| N‑4 | Numbering mach., 4 wheel | 7.90 |
| N‑6 | Numbering mach., 6 wheel | 9.40 |
| N‑8 | Numbering mach., 8 wheel | 11.60 |
| N‑R | Repeat action, add per machine | 1.15 |
The No. 214 self‑inker reverses the die on a spring toggle and prints upwards of five thousand impressions before it wants re‑inking. It is the best two dollars thirty‑five cents in this catalog. It cannot be re‑worded. If your stamp has a year in it, order a hand stamp with a separate date band and save yourself buying a new self‑inker every January.
A numbering machine is specified by wheels and action. Six wheels on repeat‑twice prints the same number on the original and on the carbon and then advances. On consecutive it advances every strike. Order the wrong action and somebody in Receiving numbers four hundred forms with a pen.
TYPE, PADS, INK & SUNDRIES
| CAT. | ITEM | EACH |
|---|---|---|
| P‑1 | Pad No. 1, 2¼×3½, felt, inked | .30 |
| P‑2 | Pad No. 2, 3¼×6¼, felt, inked | .55 |
| I‑B | Stamp pad ink, water base, 2 oz. | .35 |
| I‑O | Ink, oil base, 2 oz. (hard dies only) | .45 |
| DB‑1 | Date band, 6 yr., fits hand mounts | .95 |
| RC | Rubber cement, 4 oz. | .28 |
| TW | Type wash, pint | .60 |
Match the ink to the die. Oil base on a soft 55‑durometer die swells it out of square inside a month and then you write us a letter about it. Water base on everything soft. Oil base is for hard dies and metal tags only.
HOW TO MEASURE YOUR IMPRESSION
Lay a rule across the longest line of the wording you want, not across the wood. Measure the printed impression. We add the vulcanizing overage ourselves — the mould is cut about two percent larger than the finished impression because the rubber shrinks coming out of the press. If you specify the die at exact impression size you will get a stamp that reads slightly small for the rest of its life, and it will be correct to your order and wrong on the paper.
The mount overhangs the die 1/8″ on all four sides. That is not decoration. Where the wood does not overhang, the corners strike the paper and print four grey smudges around your wording.
Rule above is printed to true inches on this sheet. Hold your own rule against it; if the two do not agree, this page is not being shown at life size and the proof window will be off by the same amount.
RUBBER — WHICH ONE
| DUROMETER | PRINTS WELL ON | WILL NOT |
|---|---|---|
| SOFT 55 | Kraft, corrugated, cloth tape | Crushes on bond; counters fill |
| HARD 70 | Bond, ledger, metal tag w/ oil ink | Skips on anything textured |
The order blank asks what the stamp will be struck on. That is not a sales question and there is no upcharge either way. We just cannot pick the compound without knowing.
TERMS
Net thirty days to rated accounts; others cash with order or C.O.D. Prices herein supersede all sheets dated prior to March 1 and are subject to change without notice on stock items only — orders acknowledged in writing are held at the acknowledged figure. No order under one dollar accepted; add 25¢ handling on orders under $2.00. Special dies, brass and steel work, and any wording exceeding six lines quoted on application; allow one additional working day. Hand stamps are made and shipped in four working days. Self‑inkers same. Numbering machines from stock same day if wheel count is standard. Rubber dies are guaranteed against separation from the mount for one year in normal service; they are not guaranteed against solvent, oil base ink on soft compound, or being used as a hammer. We do repair and re‑die any mount of ours, 30¢ plus line charge. Freight per zone schedule on the reverse of this sheet. Parcel post insured unless you tell us otherwise. Pennsylvania accounts add 3% sales tax; tax‑exempt accounts furnish number on the blank.
ORDER BLANK — SHEET 4
Fill the wording out here exactly as you want it to read. The line count and the amount fill themselves in as you type, off the table printed above. If a line runs past the die width we wrap it, and the wrap counts as a line, and it costs what the next line costs.
PROOF WINDOW — TRUE SIZE
| QTY | CAT. NO. | WORDING / SPEC | AMOUNT |
|---|
Signed ______________________________ Date __________ Purchase order No. __________ · Zone taken from schedule on reverse. Turn the sheet over: press F or drag the sheet. Die‑size chart, line‑count table and freight by zone are all on the back.
SHEETS 5 & 6 — STENCIL OUTFITS, STEEL HAND DIES, MARKING BRUSHES · SHEET 9 — BRASS NAMEPLATES
DIE SIZES · LINE COUNT · FREIGHT
Everything on this side is here so you can fill the blank on the other side without writing us a letter first. If you do write us a letter we will answer it, but the stamp will be four working days from the letter and not from your first idea about it.
DIE‑SIZE CHART
| WIDTH | 8 PT. | 10 PT. | 12 PT. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1½″ | 26 ch. | 21 ch. | 17 ch. |
| 2″ | 35 | 28 | 23 |
| 2½″ | 43 | 35 | 29 |
| 3″ | 52 | 42 | 34 |
| 3½″ | 61 | 49 | 40 |
Characters counting spaces. Mould is cut 2% over these figures for shrinkage; the finished impression comes out at the width shown.
PRICE BY LINE — WORKING COPY
| LINES | 8 PT. | 10 PT. | 12 PT. |
|---|---|---|---|
| ONE | .45 | .50 | .55 |
| TWO | .62 | .68 | .75 |
| THREE | .79 | .85 | .95 |
| FOUR | .96 | 1.10 | 1.45 |
| FIVE | 1.13 | 1.28 | 1.55 |
| SIX | 1.30 | 1.46 | 1.75 |
Figures above are the shop's working copy and are what the die room bills against.
LINE‑COUNT TABLE
This is the fiddly one and people get it wrong, so here is the whole of it. Take your longest line. Divide the characters — spaces included — by the characters‑per‑inch for your point size. That is your minimum die width in inches. Round up to the next size in the chart at left. Then count your lines and read the price off the line table.
| POINT | CHAR/IN. | LINE ALLOW. |
|---|---|---|
| 8 | 17.5 | 3/16″ |
| 10 | 14.0 | 1/4″ |
| 12 | 11.6 | 5/16″ |
Worked example, and there is nothing tricky in it: DO NOT PAY TWICE is 18 characters with the spaces. At 10 point, 18 ÷ 14 = 1.29 inches. A 1½″ die carries it. Three such lines at 1/4″ each is 3/4″ of die height plus 1/16″ trim top and bottom. Three lines, 10 point: eighty‑five cents. Add a No. 1 pad at thirty cents. That is a dollar fifteen before freight, and freight is below, and a dollar fifteen is not what you will be paying.
FREIGHT — PARCEL POST BY ZONE
| ZONE | FROM READING | TO 2 LB. |
|---|---|---|
| 1 & 2 | to 150 mi. | .22 |
| 3 | 150–300 mi. | .31 |
| 4 | 300–600 mi. | .39 |
| 5 | 600–1000 mi. | .48 |
| 6 | 1000–1400 mi. | .57 |
| 7 & 8 | over 1400 mi. | .71 |
Blank on the reverse figures Zone 3 unless you write another zone beside the total. Insurance 15¢ to $25 value, included on numbering machines. Truck freight collect on lots over 20 lb.
Cut No. 4‑A. Mount overhang shown at 1/8″ all around. Note the die does not reach the wood edge anywhere.
STOCK WORDINGS — NO CHARGE FOR SETTING
RECEIVED · PAID · ENTERED · APPROVED · VOID · DUPLICATE · ORIGINAL · FILE COPY · FIRST CLASS · RUSH · FRAGILE · THIS SIDE UP · DO NOT BEND · SAMPLE — NO COMMERCIAL VALUE · POSTED · CHECKED · O.K. · CANCELLED · INSPECTED BY ____ · REORDER · BACK ORDERED · SHORT SHIPPED · RETURN TO STOCK · SECOND NOTICE · PLEASE REMIT · ACCOUNT CLOSED · NIGHT FREIGHT · HOLD FOR ARRIVAL
Any of the above, one line, 10 point, forty‑five cents on a 1½″ mount, and out of here in four working days like everything else. If you want it in red we will send the pad in red; the die does not know the difference.
Charge accounts carried for: Reading Hardware; Bertolet Feed & Grain; Castellane's, receiving office; Hamburg Iron Wks.; Schuylkill Paper Box Co.; and 340 others in this trading area.
L. BICKEL, who types these sheets, would like it on record that the wording PARTS DEPARTMENT at 12 point needs a 1½‑inch die and gets one that is 1.38 inches of type on a 1.5 inch die and looks cramped, and that PARTS DEPT. looks better and costs the same. Both are one line. That is her whole argument.
FORM 4‑357‑M · 12M · PRINTED IN OUR OWN OFFICE · STENCIL BY L. BICKEL