POME HONORING A MASTER PRINTER 1926-1961. [A keepsake commemorating Joseph Blumenthal's 35th anniversary as a printer, most likely printed at the Spiral Press].

[The Spiral Press], (1961)., (1961).. Fine. - An 11 inch high by 8-1/2 inch wide broadsheet, with an attached blank, handsomely printed on fine cream stock. Printed in black with the attractive Norse triskelion device printed in red beneath the title, the playful keepsake poem reads: "POME Honoring a MASTER Printer 1926-1961 / Joe Blumenthal is quite a man; / He turns out work that's purty. / The years the Spiral's boss he's been / Now total five an thirty. / And now, at work he looks askance; / His gaze becomes more shifty. / But we all hope he sticks it out, / And makes a nifty fifty!" Fine.

According to small pressman Fridolf Johnson, the keepsake was printed at the Spiral Press.

The Spiral Press (1926-1971) was founded by Joseph Blumenthal and George Hoffman, with an initial financial investment from Blumenthal.

The American printer, publisher, typographer, and book historian Joseph Blumenthal (1897-1990) first started working for B.W. Huebsch in 1924. Huebsch had no qualms about publishing such controversial authors of the period as James Joyce and Blumenthal soon learned the principles of publishing for specialized markets and educated himself in the art of fine printing. On sales trips for the firm, Blumenthal learned of the works of such fine printers and book designers as Bruce Rogers, D.B. Updike and works published by the Nonesuch Press. Working as an apprentice to William Edwin Rudge and Hal Marchbanks, he teamed up with George Hoffman with whom he operated a private press in their spare time. Together they founded The Spiral Press in 1926, focusing on fine presswork and design and taking on work for larger publishers. Turning his attention to typeface design during the Depression, Blumentahl created the Emerson typeface. Blumenthal was awarded the medal for craftsmanship in printing by the American Institute of Graphic Arts in 1952.