Surdus, a printing house for deaf people
At annual meeting of the Association for the Deaf in 1928, the deaf bookbinder Oskar Wetzell pointed out that work in a printing house was suitable for deaf people. According to him, deaf people should found their own printing house that could also offer training. Wetzell had worked as a bookbinder for 20 years and his company trained deaf people. As a result of his proposal, Oy Surdus Ab, a printing house for deaf people, was founded. The team planning the venture included book press worker Eino Karilas and artist Lauri Vainola.
The raising of share capital began in autumn 1928, and the A. Nummelin printing house and its equipment were acquired for the company and transferred to the Helsinki association’s former premises on Rikhardinkatu 2. The organisational meeting was held in summer 1929 and operations started with an eight-strong team.
A modest school was founded in connection with the company, enabling students to train as a typesetter or book printer over a four-year period. During its first 25 years of operations, it trained 34 deaf people for a profession.
Surdus faced numerous challenges. During the early stages of its operations, the company was plagued by the global depression. The Association for the Deaf supported its operations financially and by giving its magazines Kuuromykkäin Lehti and Tidskrift för Dövstumma to print. From the mid-1930s to the war, things looked good for the company but its expansion did not succeed as planned. Moreover, it was not able to accept all the students that wanted to attend the training. When its machinery gradually became outdated, it was not able to update it before the 1960s. Because of this, Surdus focused on printing smaller items, such as forms.
It operated on Aleksanterinkatu from 1933 to 1972 when it moved to more modern premises on Meritullinkatu. For financial reasons, the graphics training institute that operated in connection with Surdus had to close its doors and finally in 1979 the company filed for bankruptcy. A new owner continued operations in Surdus’ premises with the help of its staff and machinery.