Nashville is a exciting, vibrant, and fun city. I was all ready to have a great time in Nashville when we visited with Meagan’s family this summer. What I didn’t expect to find was one of the only surviving letterpress print and design shops in the world: Hatch Show Print.

I did not know what Hatch Show Print was when we arrived in Nashville, but it turned out to be my favorite place we visited there. As a designer I get really excited about design stuff, and find design history fascinating. But everyone with us enjoyed Hatch Show Print, regardless of their design level.

How to Get to Hatch Show Print

Hatch Show Print’s history is tightly tied up with the history of the Grand Ole Opry. It used to be located near the Old Grand Ole Opry before it burned down. Now it is actually attached the Country Music Hall of Fame, that is how important this letterpress shop was to country music history.

So to get to Hatch Show Print you actually have to get to the Country Music Hall of Fame. We parked at the convention center next door, but I think there are plenty of places to park in downtown Nashville.

Hatch Show Print is located in the same huge building as the Country Music Hall of Fame, just south of the museum. You can either walk through the building or on 5th Avenue. When we went we did not realize they were in the same building so we walked along the street. This had us enter through the gallery where they display and sell large and expensive letterpress art. It was cool to look at these, but at first I thought that was all there was until we walked out of the show room and found the ticket desk.

1: Visit the Hatch Show Print Gift Shop

If you walk inside the building down to Hatch Show Print, the gift shop is the first place you will come to. This is different than the gallery. Here they sell a lot of different things than just art, all with the Hatch Show Print designs. There are a lot of cool designs to look at here.

Even if you do not want to spend any money visiting Hatch Show Print you should at least visit the gift shop to get an idea of what they do there. From the gift shop and the glass wall along the side you can look into the actual Print Shop and see the print designers working. You can get a good sense of what goes on even if you don’t want to take the tour.

2: Tour the Shop

If you are interested in taking the tour, I think it is well worth it even though it is pretty expensive. If you are going to take the tour don’t buy anything in the gift shop before hand because with the tour you will get some percentage off shop purchases.

At the time of this writing the tour costs $18 per adult, and $15 per child (over 6). Because of space limitations they only allow a certain number of people in each tour and they only do a few tours per day. You can book online ahead of time in order to guarantee your spot.

During the tour they will take you back into the shop and explain the whole history of letterpress design and printing. They will talk about how they came to move to the new building and you will be able to see printers working on actual projects.

After they are done showing you the actual working area they will take you back into the class room where you will learn more about the history of Hatch Show Print and its connection to Country Music and other industries. During this time you will have the chance to do some printing of your own.

3: Make Your Own Print

While you are in the classroom you will have the chance to make your own print. They will teach you how the print technique works and how to ink up the press. Then during the lecture they will let each of you come over and print your own if you want to. You definitely should because it is like you get a souvenir at no extra cost.

They will have already started the project by printing in two colors, and you will get to add the third color. When we went it was perfect because the piece they were doing was a camper or a station wagon that could be placed together to make one picture.

Sum Up

I think Hatch Show Print is well worth visiting while you are Nashville. It plays an important part in the history of the city and the history of design. Tickets are pretty expensive, but that is because they need to limit the size of the groups that tour. If you don’t want to pay for the tour at least visit the shop and gallery.