Early California printers imported all of their equipment, paper, and type from the East Coast, where type foundries and press manufacturers already established a long legacy of printing. Some printers had the foresight to bring a press and type with them, however, many printers in the early 1840s and 50s came to California first as miners and turned to printing after quitting the mining business. Presses, type, paper, and ink were shipped around the Horn or overland from the East Coast.
However, Californian printers quickly tired of importing their equipment from such a distance, and soon type foundries were established in San Francisco. Jerome B. Painter arrived in San Francisco in 1849 and quickly set up shop. After acting as an agent for the Johnson Type Foundry (Philadelphia) Painter decided to establish a local foundry. He purchased an entire type foundry from his previous employer and built up one of the largest type foundries on the West Coast, specializing in newspaper size types for California newspapers. Although Painter did not join the ATF, his molds and machinery would eventually be acquired by ATF.
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Painter & Co. identifying pinmark.
Source: Maurice Annenberg, Type Foundries of America and Their Catalogs. Baltimore: Maran Printing Services, 1975.
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