The International Printing Museum

Name

The International Printing Museum

Legal name

International Printing Museum

Website

https://printmuseum.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1988

Operating status

Operating

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Museum and Educational Services

NAICS

Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (7121), Museums (71211)

SIC

Service Industries For The Printing Trade (2790)

akta.pro primary industry

Science & Technology Museums (THAJADAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Museum, Zoo & Attraction Gift Shops (CRALAJAG), Fine Art Handling & Transport (HSAKAEAB)

Keywords

• Printing museum
• Historical printing education
• Letterpress workshops
• Antique printing equipment
• Book arts education

Headquarters

HQ city

Carson

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Museum Admissions: General admission fees of $12 for adults, $10 for students and seniors, with children 3 and under free. Saturday hours 10am-4pm, weekdays by reservation.
2. Educational Tours and Field Trips: Fee-based school tours including Franklin's Colonial Tour ($250 minimum for 25 guests), Book Arts Tour ($350 minimum for 25 guests), and Constitutional Convention Tour ($250 minimum for 25 guests). Museum on Wheels assemblies cost $750 for up to 150 students.
3. Book Arts Workshops: Half-day, full-day, and multi-day classes in letterpress printing, bookbinding, screen printing, paper marbling, collaging, linoleum block printing, and experimental pressure printing. Private group workshops also available.
4. Special Events and Surplus Sales: Annual events including Los Angeles Printers Fair, Wayzgoose Celebration with Letterpress Surplus Sale, Typewriter Festival, Krazy Kraft Days. Events include ticket sales and vendor participation fees.
5. Memberships and Donations: As a 501-3C nonprofit, the museum depends on memberships, donations, and support from donors and visitors. Tax-deductible donations support educational programs and curatorial efforts.
6. Equipment and Prop Rentals: The museum rents equipment and artifacts to film and television productions, including presses to Starz's American Gods, NBC's Good Girls, and films like Queenpins.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The International Printing Museum operates a physical museum in Carson, California housing one of the world's largest collections of antique printing machinery and graphic arts equipment. It sells admission-based public visits, fee-based educational tours and field trips for schools and groups, hands-on workshops in letterpress printing and book arts through the Book Arts Institute, scout merit badge programs, traveling Museum on Wheels assemblies, annual ticketed events, and rentals of antique printing equipment to film and television productions. Revenue is supplemented by memberships, donations, and charitable grants supporting its nonprofit mission.

Product overview

The International Printing Museum operates as a physical museum and educational institution rather than a software company. Its product portfolio consists of in-person educational offerings: the Book Arts Institute (workshops in letterpress printing, bookbinding, paper marbling, and related crafts), guided tours (Franklin's Colonial Tour, Book Arts Tour, Constitutional Convention Tour), the traveling Museum on Wheels outreach program, scout merit badge programs, annual public events (Los Angeles Printers Fair, Typewriter Festival, Wayzgoose, Krazy Kraft Days), and a permanent collection of antique printing equipment and historical artifacts. The museum has no software product, API, or technical integrations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Book Arts Institute Workshops Hands-on educational workshops for adults and teens covering letterpress printing, bookbinding, screen printing, paper marbling, collaging, linoleum block printing, and experimental pressure printing. Offered as half-day, full-day, and multi-day classes, plus private workshops for small groups, friends, colleagues, and families.
• Museum Field Trips and Group Tours Specialty tours for school groups including Franklin's Colonial Tour (with Ben Franklin reenactment), Book Arts Tour (Chinese paper invention through Gutenberg), and Constitutional Convention Tour (interactive debate experience). Tours include hands-on printing activities and can be customized for curriculum objectives.
• Museum on Wheels Assemblies Traveling educational program bringing a colonial printing shop experience to schools, libraries, and events across Southern California. Features hands-on metal type setting demonstration, Poor Richard's Almanack printing, historical artifacts, and the 'Inventive Dr. Franklin' video presentation. $750 for up to 150 students plus mileage surcharge.
• Scout Merit Badge Days Full-day scout events enabling participants to earn two merit badges (Graphic Arts MB and Pulp & Paper MB) through 10 rotating stations including t-shirt printing, offset press operation, pulp grinding, paper making, and letterpress card creation.
• Book Arts Patch Day for Girls Educational program for girls ages 10-18 (including Girl Scouts and American Heritage Girls) featuring hands-on workshops in bookbinding, paper making, t-shirt printing, and letterpress bookmark creation, designed to help participants earn the Book Artist Badge.
• Los Angeles Printers Fair Annual flagship event featuring a vendor marketplace with artistic prints, cards, books and printing supplies, live demonstrations, printing equipment displays, and artist/vendor interactions. Drove 1,700+ attendees in 2017 and 12,000+ unique visitors with 65 vendors in the 2020 Virtual edition.
• Annual Events Program

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 500,000 people educated since 1988
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Edgar Miller LegacyminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Chicago non-profit preserving the legacy of artist Edgar Miller. Contacted museum regarding the 'lost' windows and provided historical context about the artist.
• Kelly PaperminorOthers · 1 January 2017Kelly Paper opened a new 8,000 square foot store on the museum's property in 2017. Provides industry partnership with daily foot traffic on site, generates rental income for museum.
• Letterpress ThingsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerNationally respected letterpress supplier owned by John Barrett, based in Massachusetts. Brought curated selection of printing supplies, wood and metal type, and printer's cuts for sale at Wayzgoose Celebration event. Rare West Coast appearance.
• Typewriter ConnectionminorGTM or Marketing PartnerEvent co-host for QWERTY Typewriter Festival. Los Angeles-based typewriter resource for sales and rentals. Appears at events including Los Angeles County Fair.
• Los Angeles Printmaking SocietyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerContributed content and participation to the Virtual Los Angeles Printers Fair, including video demonstrations and educational content.
• Printing Industries Association of AmericacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational organization that recognized the museum's staff for successful community outreach. Museum participates in PIA events and Wayzgoose conference.
• RISO Studio ArtsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerLA-based print shop and artist resource. Live screen-printing t-shirts and totes with QWERTY-inspired graphics at typewriter festival vendor events.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Autry Museum of the American West: An LA-based museum focused on the history and cultures of the American West. Comparable as a regional Southern California nonprofit museum with educational programming, events, and collections on American history themes.
• The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens: A major Southern California cultural institution in San Marino, CA combining library, art museum, and gardens. Comparable as a regional nonprofit cultural anchor in the LA area with educational programming and curatorial depth, though broader in scope than printing.

Others

• Book Arts Press at Columbia University: Columbia University Library's Book Arts Press produces exhibitions, publications, and workshops on the history of books and printing. Comparable as an institutional center for book arts research, education, and printing history preservation, though operating as part of a university rather than standalone nonprofit.

Direct peers

• Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum: Based in Two Rivers, WI, this museum preserves the legacy of wood type and letterpress printing with one of the world's largest collections. It shares the same niche focus on printing history, equipment preservation, and educational programming.
• Museum of Printing: Located in Haverhill, MA, this museum preserves the history of printing and graphic arts through exhibits and demonstrations. It is directly comparable as a printing-focused history museum with a similar educational mission and collection scope, though serving a different regional catchment.

Broad incumbents

• Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation: A major Dearborn, MI museum focused on American industrial and technological innovation, including printing and graphic arts. It overlaps with the International Printing Museum as a broader incumbent collecting and interpreting industrial history at larger scale.
• Hagley Museum and Library: Located in Wilmington, DE on the Brandywine Valley site of the original DuPont gunpowder works, Hagley interprets American industrial and technological history. Comparable as a larger industrial-history museum with educational programming and demonstration of historical machinery.
• Smithsonian National Museum of American History: The Smithsonian's flagship American history museum in Washington, DC includes significant printing and graphic arts collections such as the Linotype machine used on the Gutenberg Bible. Comparable as a broad museum collecting and exhibiting printing technology and history.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/printmuseum

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The International Printing Museum