For many years the Portuguese edition of The Watchtower had been printed in Brazil on an old flatbed press. But in 1957, because of increased demand, problems with the press (which had been built in 1918), and an insufficient supply of paper, this printing had been transferred to New York. Now, having found solutions to the problems of press and paper, the brothers were able to resume printing in Brazil.

In order to furnish the space needed for printing, work got under way on an annex to the branch facilities. At the same time, arrangements were made to import a high-speed rotary letterpress. Because of the educational nature of our magazines, an effort was made to obtain exemption from import taxes on the press. But at times, religious organizations that had been granted tax exemption for items had later sold these for a big profit. Understandably, some of the authorities were not in favor of granting further exemptions to religious groups. However, help came from an unexpected source—a government official who was an agnostic. He showed interest in our request for exemption and indicated how we should proceed. In November 1972, after just four months, the desired tax exemption was granted. Augusto Machado, who was working in the Society’s office, reminisced: “We started from scratch, knowing practically nothing; but with confidence in Jehovah, and doing our homework, we got what we needed. Jehovah really directs his servants.”

There Was Much to Learn

The prospect of printing on a web rotary letterpress presented new challenges. The completely dismantled press arrived in December 1972, packed in 47 large crates, some of which weighed as much as six tons. To see that it was set up properly, Milan Miller was sent from the world headquarters. He coordinated the work of a group of nine brothers to install the press and then taught them how to operate it. Their sharing in the installation of the press helped them to understand how to care for it. The majority were young brothers who, until then, had little or no experience in printing. Karl Rietz, who shared in that installation project, was the factory overseer, and he continues to serve in that capacity down to the present.

At about the same time, the paper being imported for printing the magazines arrived. “The first shipment was 150 tons,” recalled Euclides Justino, who was sent from Bethel to the port to get it. “We arranged for trucks to transport the paper from the port in Santos to Bethel in São Paulo. But we did not realize that, since the forklift at the port only lifted the rolls of paper up onto the trucks, we would need strong men to put those heavy rolls in order on the trucks. So Brother Machado and I climbed up onto one of the trucks and began to tip the rolls—each weighing 400 kilograms [880 pounds]—and to roll them into place. The stevedores had a good laugh as they watched two men in neckties struggling with the rolls. Happily, it was nearly lunchtime, so we soon quit. During the lunch hour, we hired men to finish the job.” But gradually the brothers were learning some of the work involved in printing with a web rotary press.

In 1973 a second web rotary press arrived, with printing capacity similar to the first: 12,500 magazines an hour. Since then, more presses—ones with four-color capacity—have been installed. So over the years, we have been able to keep up with the demand for Bible literature.

[Pictures on page 133]

Rotary letterpress put into operation in São Paulo in 1973