“The Ideal press was manufactured by the Sigwalt Company of Chicago. John Sigwalt (see his Chicago No.10) manufactured a number of presses that were near-copies of some of the popular presses of his time. His presses were made from the early 1900s until around 1962. This press resembles Golding’s Official No.4 except that the base is square. In addition, these two presses are distinguished from each other by their roller springs: those of the Golding are coiled outside the roller arm (see enlarged photo of the Official), while the Sigwalt presses are coiled around the arm of the roller hook in a more conventional manner. The Ideal was made in the following sizes:

Ideal No.2, 3″” x 5″”
Ideal No.3, 4″” x 6″”
Ideal No.4, 5″” x 7 1/2″” (shown)
Ideal No.5, 6″” x 9″” “

Contributors

Briar Press, Core contributor