The Black Art

David Landis and his Pluck Art Printing Parlor

Above: David Landis Self-Portrait.  Printed in 1897.

Above: Detail of David Landis' 1897 Print-Shop Advertisement

David Landis is my favorite "Plain or Odd" Lancaster printer. His stylish printing was a dramatic splash of creativity, in a world filled with his plain Mennonite relatives and conservative neighbors. 

David was a printer with the soul of an artist. David's work was in great demand, for his printed creations were high-style and highly-crafted. He had his finger on the pulse of all the current local fashions in graphic design and typography.

You are Invited: Lawn Parties, Soirees, and Pie Socials:

David seems to have cornered a market for printing stylish invitiatons for Lancaster's social circles. His party invitations are a showcase of elegant design and refined typography.

His printed invitations were for a Who's Who of Lancaster party people: small-town socialites, downtown church ladies, and farmers' wives who threw lawn parties.

David called this printing his "society work," rather than his "job work."

These invitations are approximately four-inches in height.  They are printed on fine, card-stock paper. The reverse sides are blank.

(Click the invitations to enlarge.)

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Above: An 1894 Lawn Party by Abram and Jacob Root at East Petersburg,

And a Fate Soiree by Lovice Wynetta Bard for Miss Apgar, Miss Moore, and Miss Matz.

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Above: An 1896 Pie Social and Musicale at St. Paul's Reformed Church,

And a 1902 Straw Ride by Frank F. Ruhl at Roseville.

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Above: A 1902 Evening Sociable by Miss Barbara A. Trout at Landisville,

And a 1902 Evening Sociable by Miss Bertha A. Long at Lititz.

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Above: a 1902 Evening Sociable by Miss Nettie L. Lefever at Oregon,

And a 1904 Evening Sociable by Misses Kathryn and Anna Lefever at Neffsville.

(Click the Invitations to Enlarge.)

D. B. Landis Wants Your Business.

Ink Blotters Printed by David Landis to Advertise his Print Shop

Before ballpoint pens became popular here in the 1940s, everyone wrote with fountain pens.  So everyone needed an ink blotter when their fountain pens overflowed, or wouldn't flow smoothly.

Buinesses advertised their companies on ink blotters, like business cards.  In addition to printing blotters for other companies, David Landis printed at least 50 different ink blotters to advertise his own printing business.  Here are a few of those Landis blotters.

(Click Image to Enlarge It.)

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(Click Image to Enlarge It.)

D. B. Landis Prints his Masterpiece: His Book "Lancaster Lyrics"

In 1914, at age 52, D. B. Landis printed and published his greatest work: his beautifully-crafted book of poetry Lancaster Lyrics.

This book is a showcase of Landis's poetry about the pleasures and pains of life in Lancaster County.

Landis began writing poetry when he was a schoolboy in Landisville, where he wrote with the pen-name "Davy Derby." 

(Above: David's Portrait in his Book Lancaster Lyrics)

David Mourns his Two Young Children:

(Above) In 1891, when David was 29 years old, his two young childred died of diptheria, one day apart. A few months later he wrote these poems in their memory. 23 years later he printed the poems in his book Lancaster Lyrics.

David Prints his Photos of Lancaster County in His Lancaster Lyrics Book:

David's favorite pleasures were photography and bicycling.  He pedalled up and down Lancaster's back roads to capture fleeting images of our rural landscapes and early architecture. He printed these images as screened halftone prints in his Lancaster Lyrics.

David Celebrates Lancaster County's Favorite Sin: Overeating

The life of D. B. Landis is a celebration of his Pennsylvania German  (Pennsylvania Dutch) heritage. David was the leading historian of his family's Mennonite ancestry. (In 1888, at age 26, he authored and published his family's genealogy: The Landis Family of Lancaster County.) He was the eighth generation of Landises in this county.

David was bilingual.  He spoke both English and the Pennsylvania German dialect. He printed poems in both languages.  Lancaster Lyrics also includes David's poems that are sort-of his Dutchified poems. These affectionate poems capture in ink the thick Germanic accents of his countrified relatives and neighbors.

David wrote Dot Belly! (That Belly!) in 1912, and printed it two years later in his Lancaster Lyrics book.

David Landis Loves Landisville

David Landis loved his hometown Landisville. He loved everyone's hometown around here.

David had a life-long love affair with Lancaster County.  He celebrated this affection in his poetry book Lancaster Lyrics ...and in the postcards he photographed, printed, and published.

David's postcards are autobiographical images of Lancaster's historic architecture and landscapes.

His postcards are his personal tribute to the local communities that patronized his art and built his business.

David Landis's "Job Printing": Saffron and other Drugs

David Bachman's bread-and-butter work was "job printing": designing and printing paper items for local businesses. 

David's business savvy allowed him to corner the market for printing for local druggists.

David kept archived samples of his job printing. These druggist container labels are from his archive.

Here in Lancaster County, our farm families' favorite use of the saffron herb is to flavor our egg noodles and to color our chicken-corn soup a crayon yellow.

Foodies often describe saffron as "the world's most expensive spice."  But if it's been growing behind your barn for 100 years, it's as cheap as dirt.

D. B. Landis: Red Ink / Black Ink