The Firschein Press: A Legacy Preserved

Description

Join us on Zoom for a visual exploration with members of the Firschein family on the history of their family’s legendary Yiddish printing press and how it came to reside at the Yiddish Book Center. For decades, the Firschein Press—a small, family-run printing business—provided the residents of Brooklyn neighborhoods with all their stationery and advertising needs. The family’s printing legacy lives on materially in the form of a 110-year-old, 1,100-pound printing press; a cabinet full of rare Yiddish, Hebrew, and English wood type; and other printing ephemera. In spring 2025, Ben and Joseph Firschein donated the surviving press and materials to the Yiddish Book Center. Ben and Joseph will be joined by Shelly Hebert, who made the shidduch (matchmaking) that led to this incredible donation. They will share the Firschein family’s story, including childhood memories of ink, paper, and cast iron. It’s a proud history reflected by a poster advertising the Firschein Press’s services that proclaims, “Printing that pleases particular people!”