Our Ancestor Was ~ Lithographer

Natural History Bird Print, Circa 1879 - Lithograph courtesy The Graphics Fairy

While searching death certificates at Maryland State Archives, this one caught my attention. Here we discover Bernard John Gaphardt's occupation was lithographer.

                                                       Bernard John Gaphardt, great-uncle 

      b. 07/06/1920 in Baltimore, Maryland

      d.  11/15/1966 in Baltimore, Maryland

I must admit not being 100% sure what the particular term meant. Here are a few resources to help understand this occupation.

Wikipedia describes lithography - "invented by Alois Senefelder in Bohemia in 1796. In the early days of lithography, a smooth piece of limestone was used (hence the name "lithography": "lithos" is the ancient Greek word for stone). After the oil-based image was put on the surface, a solution of gum arabic in water was applied, the gum sticking only to the non-oily surface. During printing, water adhered to the gum arabic surfaces and avoided the oily parts, while the oily ink used for printing did the opposite."

Lithography from the University of Delaware Library

Lithography by Joseph Pennell - copyright, September, 1912

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Practical Lithography, by Alfred Seymour

Another clue under "kind of business or industry" we see "Crown Cork & Seal Co". Below are a few links about this company.

"Crown Cork and Seal Collection" from Maryland Historical Society, tells us that by 1930 half of the world's supply of bottle caps were produced at the plant. Also, we learn about the photolithographic process of printing bottle caps.

Baltimore Heritage site "Crown Cork & Seal on Eastern Avenue" by Sierra Hallman.

Is this where Bernard's skill came into play? Did he imprint bottle tops?

It was fun and educational to dig deeper into Bernard's life. Also, love finding pieces of Baltimore history.

+This post is part of series "Our Ancestor Was". Will be documenting interesting and unusual occupations as discovered.