On this day in 1802 the Philadelphia Typographical Society presented a list of rates which printers expected to receive from their employers for the various classes of work. The Society had been formed that year as a benevolent and trade group. It exists in that capacity at the present time and is the oldest of the craft associations. The list of prices stated:

“Sir: ‘Philadelphia Typographical Society,’ takes the liberty to furnish you with their List of Prices. We hope that we shall be indulged with at least a candid examination of our demands. …We presume you are not unacquainted with many of them. We would wish to be placed on a footing, at least, with mechanics … our wages have, in no instance, kept pace with them. We have the merit of not being the most dissatisfied, and in no one instance of demanding anything unjust. We have, in the following statement, confined ourselves to what a majority of the employers in this city give. Our object is, to have one uniform price established. In doing this, we shall act as men towards men. . . . No person will leave his employ until he has given a reasonable notice. . . . In return, we expect that your conduct towards us will be equally candid. Indeed, we cherish a hope, that the time is not far distant, when the employer and the employed will vie with each other, the one in allowing a competent salary, the other in deserving it. Under these impressions we submit the following prices to your decision:

COMPOSITION

Per week, not less than . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $8.00

Every 1000 m’s, from Brevier to English, inclusive . . . 25

Common Rule or Figure Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

PRESSWORK

Per week, not less than . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $8.00

All paper below medium, per token . . . . . . . . . 30

Ditto above medium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37½

Broadsides, per token . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Cards, per pack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12½

A single pack of cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

All small jobs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

George White, President

John Childs, Vice-President

William Little, Secretary