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Editorial: Rarely seen

Part of an occasional series on odd newspaper terms. Thanks to Bonnie Hudgins for the suggestion.

Look! Look! A double truck!

Yes, Jane, we see the tandem trailer being pulled down the interstate highway. Big, impressive … but rather common.

But Dick, I meant: a double truck ad.

Oh, that is different. Different indeed. And a rare jewel in the newspaper world.

Newspapers are always delighted when someone places a full page ad. Facing full page ads are much more delightful. And the best of all is a double truck. This is an ad that reaches over two pages and includes the inner side margins, printing across the fold of two pages.

We had to look up the origin of the phrase. Wikipedia says: “The name ‘double truck’ comes from the days when the heavy forms for newspaper pages (the metal version of each page), largely filled with lead type, were rolled around the composing room floor on heavy carts called trucks. Two pages for one project meant a double truck.&rd...

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