Kevin, 42, and his semi-retired
father Robert, 65, still do it the old-fashioned way - by hand,
and by machines that are older than both of them put together.
It is a trade that is more learned than taught, a craft that takes
time and yields pride.by Nick Schinker
Omaha
world Herald
November 15, 2000
For Kevin and Robert Brown of Omaha, Family is the tie that binds.
The Browns are co-owners of Capitol Bindery, a book and custom binding company that has been in the family since 1953.
Kevin, 42, and his semi-retired
father Robert, 65, still do it the old-fashioned way - by hand,
and by machines that are older than both of them put together.
It is a trade that is more learned than taught, a craft that takes
time and yields pride.
"Everything now in society is do it quick and do it cheap, mostly via automation," Kevin Brown said. "Not here. We'll do as many as 100 books and as few as one, and we'll do each by hand. We are quality versus quantity. Our books are made to last.."
The company, at 1812 Vinton Street, was founded in 1929. It was purchased in March of 1953 by Robert Brown's father, Leonard, a career soldier looking for a business after the Korean War. Robert joined his father in June of 1956. Leonard died in 1970 and passed the business on to Robert, who taught Kevin the craft when he joined the company 11 years ago.
With the help of three part-timers, they run the business from a dusty storefront whose door acts as something of a portal in time. Pass through it into another century, one where skilled workmanship and painstaking detail are the norm rather than the exception.
Step between stacks of cardboard boxes that line the creaky wooden floor into a place that rekindles thoughts of the way all books used to be. How they felt, warm and heavy in the reader's hands. How they looked, the compelling lure of the gold lettering and rich leather cover. How they sounded, the familiar crack when opened for the first time. Back when books and the stores that sold them smelled like inked paper, leather and glue instead of cappuccino, latte and biscotti.
"Everything we do here is sewn and hardbound," Kevin said. "We don't do tab or spiral or quick-type binding. We use cloths and leathers mostly for the covers. Good papers, too, anything that can be properly turned. All people have to do is bring us the loose sheets and we'll turn them into a hardbound book."
Not only books, but also proposal covers, ring binders, menu and diploma covers, even custom, acid-free clamshell boxes for the pages of books deemed to brittle to restore.
The Browns aren't interested in big numbers. They said anything
more than a run of 100 would probably be best served by some form
of automation. "We do have a minimum of one." Kevin
said. "That's a running joke around here."
Their work used to peak in the summer with the jobs in the form of bindings for schools and libraries during their off-seasons. Kevin said the past decade, however, business has not only increased but remained strong through the year. Customers range from area medical; schools that want medical journals bound for preservation, to local authors of family histories or brief novels, intended for limited distribution, to custom orders of a varied nature.
On such custom order came from a local businessman who wanted a family trip chronicled as part of a birthday remembrance. That same businessman produced a limited, three-volume autobiography. On both projects, the Browns, were sworn to secrecy - as they are in other instances, such as with municipal bond offerings or work of a publicity-sensitive nature.
"Some of it's kind of interesting to know about or see in advance," Robert Brown said. "Some of it we don't even understand. Either way, we keep it quiet, or we wouldn't get a job the next time around." Capitol Bindery also restores books - a fact that is sure to bring them some attention in the next few weeks.
"Whenever we've been listed in Action Editor or something like that, we get swamped with old Bibles and other books to restore," Kevin said. Restoration is a time-consuming process done to the Browns' specifications. They are experienced having worked on books dating back to the 16th century.
"I can spend anywhere from
five to 10 hours per book in steps over periods of many days,
even weeks," Kevin said. "Some of the real difficult
restorations take up to six months or a year. but the majority
we try to do in two or three months."
Most people are patient as they await the restored product, Robert said. "Those who aren't, we tell them they can visitation rights, if they want." It takes time because the restoration work is done aside from the company's binding work, which is the chief order of business. Bindery is a process that involves up to 17 different steps, depending on the size and quantity of the work being bound.
"You have to trim, sew, glue, then trim again, round the ends, attach the backing, apply the head band and the foot band, the decorative pieces at the top and bottom of the spine," said Robert, counting the steps on his fingertips. "You have to cut the back strip, cut the boards, mask and paint the labels, do the foil stamping, attach the covers.
"There are more steps with some, like medical journals, where we have to remove all the advertising first. Or there is the legal work that's pretty much ready to bind." One might think the proliferation of personal computers would take business from a bindery, but such is not the case, Kevin Brown said.
"We thought we'd take a big hit from computers," he said. "instead, we're doing a lot of dissertations, theses, family histories and the like: things people can print out themselves and bring to us to be bound. People are doing more genealogies on the Internet and then bringing us the family stories they put together. Computers have actually been a boost to business."
The rebinding of medical journals was a major portion of the company's business, but that work has declined, he said. "But we've been doing a lot of binding of closing documents and mergers, just because there's so much of that going on," he said. "It seems like when on aspect of the work dies out, something else picks up."
The cost of binding or restoration depends on the type of cover, the quantity ordered, the stamping, the time involved and other factors. "So much of what we do is custom work it is impossible to give a general range," Kevin said. "I think we're very competitive as evidenced by our repeat customers." The Browns do no advertising outside a listing in the Yellow pages. All business comes word-of-mouth via satisfied customers, Robert said.
"There are very few companies of our type and size that still do hand work." he says. "After 47 years, word gets around." He said that remaining focused on quality over quantity has enabled Capitol Bindery to fill a niche. "I like us about the size we are now," he said. Kevin chuckled. "Can we go any smaller?"
His father dismissed the remark with a wave of a hand. "At our size, we have more control over the final product. We can produce something you're not ashamed to see pass out the door."
Whether the business will pass on to a fourth generation remains to be seen. "I don't know," Kevin said. "My oldest wants to do something that makes money. My youngest just wants to be a Pokemon master."
As his father turned to go back to work, Kevin said he hopes the business stays in the family somehow. "This is more than our jobs," he said, watching his father walk away. "Much more, especially for Dad." More than just a business. It is the history of one family's effort to preserve history, using a little glue, some string, a piece of leather and time.