There are a lot of questions Red Brick Clothing Company gets asked on a regular basis from our customers about
screen printing in Manchester, NH. However, one of the least likely is “Where did screen printing start?”
We get it. When you think about the process of screen printing, it seems like an odd concept, right? You might believe that this idea was created by a fashion designer or inventor not too long ago, but screen printing can be traced back over 2,000 years ago to the Song Dynasty in China. After being used by the Japanese and other Asian countries, it wasn’t for many years before it reached Europe. In 1907, a man by the name of Samuel Simon in the UK patented the screen printing we know and love but used a brush as opposed to the squeegees we use today.
For nearly the next 50 years, screen printing was developed and changed by the professionals in the industry, though many techniques were kept from the public and claimed as trade secrets. Thanks to artists like Andy Warhol, who used screen printing to create some of his most famous work in the early 1960s, these techniques became more mainstream and well-known. Still, the question remained: how can artists mass produce?
To solve the problem in 1960, Michael Vasilantone created and sold rotatable, multicolor garment screen printing machines. In 1967, he patented his work. From this point forward, more developments have come with screen printing, such as silk screening devices created by Marc Tartaglia, Marc Tartaglia, Jr., and Michael Tartaglia. In just the past 60 years, we have watched garment screen printing develop into half of the screen printing we see around the world, and Red Brick Clothing Company loves being a part of the industry.
If you are in need of custom t-shirts in NH, contact us at Red Brick. Our experts would love to help you design and create the shirts you need for your next gathering or event. For more information, call us today at (866) 718-4100.