Kelly B Automatic press

This flatbed cylinder jobbing press, called the Kelly B Automatic press, was made by the American Type Founders Company in Elizabeth, New Jersey in about 1914. The press has a height of 52 inches a length of 63 inches and a width of 55 inches, with a base plate of 72 inches by 37 inches. The press has a bed measuring 19 inches by 22.5 inches.

The Kelly Automatic Job Press, Style B (affectionately known as the Kelly B) succeeded the Harris Automatic press as the most popular fast press among American job printers. It was invented by William B. Kelly, a salesman for the American Type Founders Company, and produced by the ATF beginning in 1914. The press had excellent feed, ink distribution, and registration systems, and printed 14 x 22 inch sheets at a rate of 3,500 impressions per hour. It was not advertised publicly until 1923, by which time the press already had a loyal following and some 2,000 Kelly B’s had been sold. In the 1920s it was joined by the Kelly No. 2, the Kelly Automatic Jobber, and the Kelly Style A, but none of them replaced the original Kelly B in popularity.

This press was used in the Artcraft Printing Company of Philadelphia.

Donated by Renato Di Lauro, Jr., 1978.

Citation: Elizabeth Harris, "Printing Presses in the Graphic Arts Collection," 1996.

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