Eric Hollenbeck, as seen in an episode of The Craftsman, produced by Warm Springs Productions and Jolt Life for Magnolia Network.
Eric Hollenbeck
Victorian-era letterpress printing
Eric Hollenbeck is the founder and master craftsman of Blue Ox Millworks and Blue Ox Historic Village in Eureka, California, where he has spent over 50 years preserving and practicing the traditional crafts of the Victorian era. A combat veteran, Eric came to craft as a path toward healing and purpose and has since built one of the most remarkable living heritage sites in the United States—a fully operational Victorian job shop producing custom architectural millwork, ornamental woodwork, and handmade goods using period machinery that he personally restored. Blue Ox is home to an extraordinary collection of antique equipment, including an 1866 H.B. Smith tenoner, an 1890 Fitchburg lathe measuring 18 feet in length, and a letterpress printing shop housing four antique presses and 212 cases of historic type saved from four printing collections, including pieces from Times Printing, founded in 1853.
Eric learned Victorian letterpress printing from Lane Strope, a third-generation printer from Times Printing, and spent 20 years teaching at-risk high school students to hand-set type, print, and hand-bind their own yearbooks. Recognized nationally as one of the foremost practitioners of Victorian-era craft, Eric and Blue Ox have been featured on the Magnolia Network show The Craftsman. He has taught thousands of visitors, students, youth, and veterans through workshops, demonstrations, and apprenticeships. Eric continues to show up at his shop every day, passing on knowledge found nowhere else to the next generation of craftspeople.
Blue Ox Historic Village’s Website
Apprenticeship Program
2026
Victorian-era letterpress printing with apprentice Nanette Corley
Nanette Corley will learn from Eric Hollenbeck the complete traditional workflow of Victorian-era letterpress printing using historic type, hand-carved blocks, and antique presses. Eric will guide Nanette in hand-setting type, carving original printing blocks through ink mixing, press operation, and finishing printed works, building on her four years of study and advancing her toward full mastery of this endangered craft while helping preserve traditional letterpress printing in California.
