Hatch Show Print

Hatch Show Print is the most Nashville souvenir stop imaginable, and a living piece of design history. Founded in 1879, it is one of the oldest working letterpress print shops in the United States, and for more than a century it printed the posters that advertised the Grand Ole Opry, country stars, gospel quartets, rhythm-and-blues shows and traveling circuses across the South. Its look — chunky wood type, hand-carved images, bright inks on cardboard — became the visual language of American roots music, and the shop still prints posters by hand for concerts and artists today, using its archive of thousands of original wood and metal blocks. Hatch is now owned by the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and occupies a space on the ground floor of the museum building, with a large window onto the working shop floor, a gift shop selling posters and prints (including restrikes from historic blocks), and the Haley Gallery, which shows prints and work by visiting artists. Browsing the shop and watching the printers through the window costs nothing. The guided tour, which is ticketed, goes deeper: a sensory and educational experience covering movable type, letterpress printing and Nashville's history as Music City, and on some tours you can pull a print of your own. Hatch also runs hands-on Block Party workshops for making prints, T-shirts or tote bags. Fit: design lovers, live-music fans and anyone who wants a genuinely local souvenir, and families with creative kids. Prices for posters run from modest to collector level, so there is something for most budgets. It is a short stop with an outsized payoff, and one of the few places in Nashville where you can watch a craft being practiced exactly as it was more than a century ago.

The posters are history you can buy. Hatch's archive of blocks holds images of performers and venues going back generations, and the restrikes printed from them are some of the most original souvenirs in the city. New commissions keep the shop busy — touring artists still order Hatch posters for their shows — so you will usually see work in progress on the presses.

How to do it well: the gift shop is open daily from 9am to 5:30pm, and the print shop operates on weekdays, so a weekday visit is best if you want to see the presses running. Tours have limited spots, so book in advance through the Country Music Hall of Fame or Hatch website, and check the calendar for Block Party workshop dates. Allow fifteen minutes to browse the shop and gallery, about an hour for a tour. Posters are sturdy but large — ask for a tube if you are flying home.

Practicals and fit: the shop is in the Country Music Hall of Fame building on Rep. John Lewis Way South, between Demonbreun Street and Korean Veterans Boulevard, a block from Lower Broadway. You can reach it from inside the museum lobby or from the street — look for the neon sign. It is the natural add-on to a Hall of Fame visit, and fits easily between the Johnny Cash Museum, the Ryman and an afternoon on Broadway. For a deeper look, visit the Country Music Hall of Fame's galleries first: Hatch posters appear throughout the museum, and seeing them in context makes the shop afterward more meaningful. Then browse the poster racks for a restrike of a historic show or a recent design for an artist you love. Many visitors say the posters they bought here are the souvenir they still have on the wall years later, which is about the best recommendation a gift shop can get. Allow a few extra minutes simply to watch the printers at work through the window.