Featured Business: Porridge Papers
By Hanna Day-Woodruff
Lincolnites with a penchant for locally-made, hand-fashioned, environmentally responsible products take heart--we have a thriving, small business in our midst, one that is worthy of your patronage.
Travel down South between 14th and 15th Streets and look to the north--you will see a freshly painted olive green and black brick facade jumping out from the ruddy red of its neighbors. Porridge Papers, Lincoln's own letterpress and paper mill, is ready to be noticed.
Started by Lincoln native Christopher James, this prodigal son returned home just three years ago to continue the business he successfully ran in New Mexico. He got his start here 16 years ago, making stationary paper in the Haymarket. Life and family moved him to the Southwest a couple of years later. In 2006, he returned from the desert with production manager, Samantha McCulloch. Together, he and his team churn out handmade paper and stylish letterpress designs using old-fashioned methods melded with state-of-the-art digital production techniques.
Porridge Papers uses 19th century machines to press raised images onto a piece of paper à la Gutenberg. The relief plates are made out-of-house by digitally rendering the desired images onto a photopolymer, a material that solidifies when exposed to certain types of ultraviolet radiation. When inked and pressed into paper, the resulting images are crisp and satisfying to the touch.
Porridge Papers uses 19th century machines to press raised images onto a piece of paper à la Gutenberg. The relief plates are made out-of-house by digitally rendering the desired images onto a photopolymer, a material that solidifies when exposed to certain types of ultraviolet radiation. When inked and pressed into paper, the resulting images are crisp and satisfying to the touch.
While touring the facility, I stuck my hand into a vat of the cool, slimy, off-white goop that will eventually become paper.
“It's like oatmeal!” I exclaimed.
“Porridge,” asserts Samantha, connecting dots for me.
Appropriately named, Porridge Papers takes recycled envelope scraps sourced in Nebraska, breaks them down using water and a lot of mixing, creates a soup and reforms it into paper with client-specified colors (from soy-based inks). Sometimes they add seeds, mostly flowers, herbs and vegetables. The potted plants that sit at the store's front windows were planted from Porridge's own seed paper. The process of paper making is gentle enough that the seeds retain their fertility and can be planted after the paper has finished its message-carrying function.
The majority of these messages are uniquely crafted for specific projects. At the moment, most of Porridge's clients are corporations or entities like universities that seek a more personalized and green touch in their marketing materials. Porridge also does custom wedding and party invitations. The store has a retail front where you can purchase witty, sweet or snarky gift cards from small letterpresses around the country (at prices that are competitive with what you might find at chain stores like Target).
“But not lame,” Samantha adds.
They have other fuzzy dreams that involve the public getting to play with the letterpress machines – a dream I now share after having seen those beauties up close. The best way to stay on top of these and other craft opportunities is to follow Porridge Papers’ blog and sign up for the newsletter from their website here.
Printed journalism may be suffering, but the digital era has done nothing to decrease our insatiable consumption of paper. Luckily, Porridge Papers offers an opportunity to satisfy the Paper-Monster with an environmentally responsible, crafty and creative option, all while supporting an independent, local business.
Where: 1422 South St., Lincoln or www.porridgepapers.com
Store Hours: M-F, 10-6, Saturday 10-3
Share a Comment (1)
ahh, thanks for the write up, very nice!
Posted by: christopher | September 20, 2009 at 12:44 AM