"Mxsmanic" wrote in message
...

To compensate for this, printing press operators and typesetters ignored
the editors made a command decision: They started tucking the [.] inside
the
square [' '] piece in order to secure it and hold it still. According
to an old typesetter at the Oregon State printing press, that's why the
period
goes inside the quote as such: [.][' '] (end of line)

Urban legend. This would not explain why the period goes outside
quotation marks in British typography.

As I mentioned in the previous message, this -fact- was demonstrated to me
by a printer while he was setting type on an old printing press on the
university campus where I studied Journalism. The British typography
statement assumes that British printers used the same equipment, which may
not be the case.

Similar to the way people prefer to gather their flying knowledge from those
who fly, I prefer to get my printing press history from a printing press
operator, especially while he's in the process of operating a vintage
printing press.

Strange thing to create an urban legend about, by the way.

-c