• Chamberí Madrid says goodbye to its oldest stationery

  • Madrid The ghost of Primark Black Friday: more than a thousand people enter every 20 minutes

The Madrid City Council and the Salazar sisters, owners of the centenary Salazar stationery (Luchana, 7) have reached an agreement for the transfer and purchase of goods.

Ana and Elena, the heirs of the business, will give up their printing press from the 1950s to the Municipal Printing Office

, as this newspaper has been able to confirm. "When closing a stationery store that was more than 100 years old, which had worked with a printing press,

a material heritage of undoubted value for the graphic arts

was lost

,

"

explains Francisco Marín, director of the Municipal Printing Office-Book Arts.

The Salazars, after 50 years at the helm of the bookstore, closed down for lack of generational change. In addition to the donation of the printing press, they will sell part of the stationery material to the City Council. In the

stock

there are some objects from the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s.

"They are no longer sold. They are stored.

They are objects such as lined books, old record books, dotted lines, cédulas. Toothpicks for nibs. Pencil sharpeners Sealers. These types of goods in 2021 no longer have a use but are part of the material culture, of writing, of the 20th century ", identifies Marín.

The donation and purchase process began a few months ago, through the Central District Board. "The district boards are aware that every time an establishment like the Salazar stationery closes, years of contacts between that company and the people of Madrid disappear. This

is the case of the printing and stationery shops, 90% missing. Or the haberdashery

" . An appraisal board of the City Council has authorized the purchase files. When the formalization occurs with the delivery of the invoice, the objects will be received through an act.

"It will be in a matter of days.

During the month of December. I will try to turn this delivery into a symbolic act in which the Salazar sisters, in the presence of the institutions and people who have collaborated, hand over their assets, "he explains.

The Salazar press will be part of the museum dedicated to graphic arts.

"There is room for any asset that is part of the city's heritage and has a value.

So that current and future citizens of Madrid can enjoy it. We have a permanent collection", in which a replica of Gutenberg's printing is on display. or 20th century printing machines.

From the stationery, "two small machines, hand presses, which we are interested in incorporating, will be exhibited.

Also the furniture itself in which the letters in lead and steel engravings are kept. They are rare

. Most of the ones that were in Madrid have been Taken to the scrap dealer. These are in good condition. "

"They keep calling us"

On the morning of Black Friday, Ana and Elena were inside the premises. They no longer attend but come from time to time. There are still traces of the stationery office. Ana cleans the postcard that Mingote left them on the sidewalk. "It's funny, people keep calling us. Customers give us the stick," he says. They decided to close because none of their children have the intention of continuing with the family business, opened in 1905. "When we were going to close in 2020 they did not leave us the customers.

The year of the pandemic was triumphant. They all came to buy. They made us many reports. ".

They intend to rent the premises. "Everything is a theme park," Ana complains about the area. Chamberí is a neighborhood that interests hospitality entrepreneurs.

"If it had smoke vents, we would have already rented it to set up a bar or a restaurant

.

"

They show the guestbook, signed only by clients, "not by just anyone. We had a select clientele." The lyrics of

Fraga

, that of

Forges

,

Almudena Grandes

, or that of

Jesús Quintero appear

:

I aspire to be your client

, he wrote.

"Whenever he came to Madrid he would stop by here. It's charming."

Salazar stationery store opened in 1905. "The business was founded by our great-grandmother Quintina Muñoz. She started with a small tobacconist. She was a hard-working woman. Very responsible.

They said that she always slept behind the counter to ensure that her tobacco was not stolen."

In the 1920s, the grandfather, Juan Martínez Salazar, appeared, who gave the business its name. "His uncle had an egg warehouse in Luchana. He did not want to be a clerk. They bought this place, the 7th, and they put a stationery store called Salazar."

The printing company in which 12 people came to work was founded by Ana and Elena's father.

The women got the business going.

"They have taken care of it, us. Since our father became ill, my mother took charge with our help. In the year 31 my grandfather also died suddenly and it was my grandmother with five women in her charge who supports him."

Any document came to the press in a time without photocopies.

"The recipes, the letters, the checkbooks, the business cards, the wedding invitations, the communion and christening reminders.

It was a glorious time." Salazar Stationery came to employ 19 people. "In 2006 there were four workers left in the printing press. They made checkbooks. Some envelopes.

We have been suppliers of the City Council, the Royal House.

We did things that are no longer seen, such as embossed cards. We knew the workshops. That has already been done. lost".

The sisters are very grateful to the contact that brokered with the District Board.

"It has come to fruition thanks to Paco"

, the director of the Municipal Printing Office.

"They have been very involved. They have come here several times. Let's see what condition the material was in and what material they were interested in buying. The center councilor has also worked hard to bring the donation to fruition."

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