Casey Rubber Stamps is a New York City institution. So it made sense that on a recent afternoon in December when I visited the store-slash-workshop, assistants were busy churning out stamps in the form of another NYC stalwart: the bedbug.
"I have to make 57 of these," Rob Hales, one assistant, told me. At the moment, the bedbug is one of Casey Rubber Stamps' signature designs. And like real bedbugs, each stamp is unique, carved from red rubber and glued onto cubes of maple wood.
The cozy shop is crammed with shelves and shelves of stamps, leaving just enough room for a small workshop behind the counter where the carving happens. The afternoon I visited, the press-shy owner, John Casey, sat behind a Mac desktop while I chatted with his assistants Rob Hales and Keat Teoh. Though reticent, John's aura was etched––er, stamped––on all aspects of his store. Every once in a while, he couldn't help but mutter an answer to one of my questions in a thick Irish accent.
Long before his messy mane of hair had turned silver (in 1973 to be precise) John came to New York and worked as a mover. It wasn’t until the end of six years of doing odd jobs that he finally started learning the basics of making stamps, he told SMITH JOURNAL. Casey Rubber Stamps is still thriving today, nestled where it has been for the past few decades, on 11th Street in the East Village amongst upscale stores, delicatessens, and apartments.
"I have to make 57 of these," Rob Hales, one assistant, told me. At the moment, the bedbug is one of Casey Rubber Stamps' signature designs. And like real bedbugs, each stamp is unique, carved from red rubber and glued onto cubes of maple wood.
The cozy shop is crammed with shelves and shelves of stamps, leaving just enough room for a small workshop behind the counter where the carving happens. The afternoon I visited, the press-shy owner, John Casey, sat behind a Mac desktop while I chatted with his assistants Rob Hales and Keat Teoh. Though reticent, John's aura was etched––er, stamped––on all aspects of his store. Every once in a while, he couldn't help but mutter an answer to one of my questions in a thick Irish accent.
Long before his messy mane of hair had turned silver (in 1973 to be precise) John came to New York and worked as a mover. It wasn’t until the end of six years of doing odd jobs that he finally started learning the basics of making stamps, he told SMITH JOURNAL. Casey Rubber Stamps is still thriving today, nestled where it has been for the past few decades, on 11th Street in the East Village amongst upscale stores, delicatessens, and apartments.
“[Rubber stamps] kind of get considered this anachronistic thing that are still around for some reason, but I think that stamps still have a lot of utility," said Rob. It doesn't hurt that Casey Rubber Stamps is based in New York, either, where businesses are constantly opening and putting out branding materials ripe for customized stamping, such as coffee cups and tote bags. New York's many musicians also commission stamps for vinyls, CDs, and cassette tapes. "There's actually a lot of people making cassettes right now!" said Keat.
All of the store's stamps are made from "Real Red Rubber, (NOT the horrible plastic material which I hate)" Casey Rubber Stamps' website declares. What makes red rubber better than plastic? “It’s softer,” Rob said. The little bit of give allows the stamps to make a clean impression on paper, making up for the limited ability of human hands to stamp evenly on surfaces, he noted.
“I’m most satisfied when I get a really good impression on the back of the maple, you know? It’s a really good feeling,” Rob said, speaking of the ink images that top each wood block. Rob picked up a piece of rubber etched with the shape of a bedbug, inked it, and carefully pressed it onto a piece of blank wood. “That was a good one!" he laughed. "Now hopefully all 57 will be perfect."
As John told Smith Journal, the only stamp purchased almost exclusively by one gender is that of a small pistol. We pondered the theory behind it. "I think there’s something about stamps that’s like owning the objects [the stamps depict]," Rob said. "It's like owning the object because you can hold them and they have weight."
When asked about their favorite stamps, Rob and Keat think for a long time. “We’ve done so many it’s hard to come up with something…” says Keat. In the end, his choice is a stamp of a face––John Casey's face. Rob’s is a beautifully detailed sketch of Mao Zedong. Before I leave, Rob makes a stamp o