Daily AncestorPrinter
A printer ran a printing press or owned a printing business, producing newspapers, books and handbills.
Printer covers both the person who operated a printing press and the owner of a printing business, and by extension the business itself.
Because the word was so broad, the 1900 census instructions told enumerators not to describe a person in a printing office as a printer when a more exact term fit, such as compositor, pressman or press feeder. A printer in an 1850 to 1880 census could be any of these.
As seen in a recordOccupation column of the 1850 to 1900 census
Edwd. Lyle, 33, Printer
Sources
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Printer." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/occupations/printer. Last checked 2026-10-10.