Crandall Printing Press

The Crandall Printing Museum turned out to be a much cooler experience than I ever would have imagined. For one, the tour guides, all older gentlemen, were very entertaining. They competed amongst themselves for our attention, clearly had a pecking order, and were lonely men seeking to share their enthusiasm for printing. The two main presenters started working in print shops when they were 14-years-old. They had a passion for the craft, especially due to the incredible impact that it had on the world.

The museum was broken up into three main parts: the Guttenberg exhibit, the American Revolution exhibit, and the Book of Mormon Exhibit. To those of the Mormon faith, particularly Americans of the Mormon faith, these three parts represent three of the greatest turning points for the world. With the invention of the printing press, Guttenberg brought the West of the intellectual Dark Ages. With the American Revolution and the printing of such works as Common Sense, The Declaration of Independence, and The Constitution, men were freed from the grasps of the political dark ages. Finally, with the printing of the Book of Mormon and the Restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ, mankind was brought out spiritual dark ages.

I found this tour to be very enlightening. It was fabulous to see how the development of the printing press came about, and how it evolved as time progressed. This experience strengthened my testimony of the restored Gospel, the miraculous founding to the United States, and humanism in general.