Introduced in 1886, the Linotype was the marvel of the age, mechanizing the typesetting process for newspapers which until then had been done by hand.
By 1900, most newspapers across the country acquired a Linotype, a machine which was in use through the 1970's.
The Linotype operator types the keys which brings the matrices or dies together for casting an entire line of letters.

Linotype Composing Room, Columbia Herald, Columbia, MO 1904