# @sachistorymuseum on Instagram

- **Type:** Video
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DXCO0WxAQC6
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/64207901-sachistorymuseum-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/46bf683c42.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-04-12T14:26:18.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Sacramento History Museum (@sachistorymuseum) — https://gondola.cc/sachistorymuseum

## Caption

On April 12, 1861, the American Civil War began when Confederate soldiers opened fire on the Fort Sumter, held by the Union, in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. This was a war that lasted four years, cost the lives of more than 620,000 Americans, and freed nearly 4 million enslaved people from bondage.

We don’t really have anything connected to the Civil War in or print shop so Howard took some creative liberties with this one. For today, Howard letterpress printed an image from a woodcut that was made roughly 100 years ago. This woodcut was originally used in tobacco advertising for the Old Soldier company, which prominently has a 
Union soldier for the logo. While we do not condone the subject matter, it is one of our more detailed woodcuts that we have in the Bill Gaylord Collection in our print shop exhibit at the Sacramento History Museum. 

This woodcut, like most woodcuts, started out as a drawing before the desired image was hand carved backwards on a woodblock. It would be carved backwards because anything we print, we get the mirror image. This was printed with black rubber base ink using our Washington hand press.

#onthisday #sachistorymuseum #civilwar #museum #printing

## Stats

- **Views:** 43,173
- **Likes:** 4,881
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- **Comments:** 26

## Tags

civilwar, printing, onthisday, museum, sachistorymuseum

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