Hatch Show Print

I was in Nashville, Tennessee this week for work, and I took a couple of hours to venture over to Hatch Show Print, a famous printing company known for their distinctive style of concert and advertising posters.


Hatch Show Print can be found in downtown Nashville, a block away from Sommet Center, where the Nashville Predators hockey team plays. The shop is nestled among a stretch of country music clubs and cowboy boot stores.


The shop has an area in front where you can buy posters and souvenirs, but otherwise its totally open to the rest of the printing facilities. I'd feel kind of weird if someone was always watching me work, but I guess the workers here are used to the tourists coming and going.


Hatch Show Print has always used the old-school letterpress printing method which is so instrumental in their posters' unique look. Everything is still done by hand, and there are no fancy modern printing presses to be found.


I wasn't really in the market for buying posters, but it was neat to be able to them up close. If I had a wad of cash, I would have bought a stack. Instead, I just got a coffee mug (to go with my South Carolina Michelin Man mug).


For a much better history than I could ever give, there's a great book available from Chronicle Books.