Description:Interior of Albert Cartwright & Sons printworks in Moat Street, Willenhall, taken from glass plate negative, photographed by Harold Cartwright (one of Alfred's sons, born in about 1899).
The boxes containing the sets of different typefaces and font sizes are ranged below the window to get the benefit of the best light for composing each row of type into a 'composing stick'.
These individual rows of type, all of exactly the same length, are transferred from the 'stick', spaced, and locked up into a frame (or chase) as can be seen in the foreground on the table.
The mallet and block would have been used to knock the type onto the bed to ensure it was level for even printing.