California Job Case

A California Job Case is a kind of type case: a compartmentalized wooden box used to store movable type used in letterpress printing. It was the most popular and accepted of the job case designs in America. The California Job Case took its name from the Pacific coast location of the foundries that made the case popular.

The defining characteristic of the California Job case is the layout, documented by Ringwalt as used by San Francisco printers. This modification of the Italic layout was claimed to reduce the compositor's hand travel by more than half a mile per day. Traditionally, upper and lower case type were each kept in a separate case (or tray); this is why capital letters are called "upper case" characters while the non-capitals are "lower case". As printers became more mobile, a combined case became preferred as it was easier to transport. The combined case became very popular during the western expansion of the United States in the 19th century.