Graphic images chiseled into masonite, printed and painted on cloth and paper have been an integral part of Bread + Puppet Theater’s shows since the early sixties. Peter Schumann, Bread + Puppet’s founder, director and artist, created and continues to create the contents- both pictures and texts- of nearly all our publications and posters.

After moving to a farm in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, in 1974, we sold posters, banners, and chap books in our Museum Barn and at Bread + Puppet events. By the late eighties, Bread + Puppet Press was established by Elka Schumann with an annual calendar, mail-order catalog, and, in 2000, its own print shop building. (Until then, we had printed and painted helter-skelter in the Museum, chicken coops, and rehearsal and meeting spaces.)

At the print shop, Bread + Puppet Press team members and local volunteers make all the hand-printed and painted items for sale, including letterpress broadsides and handmade books. The Print Shop also produces the banners, flags, curtains, and costumes, as needed, for specific shows and events. At the Bread + Puppet Press, pieces from Peter's huge oeuvre are selected and used to design the books, posters, and cards, and work with local offset printers to produce each item, usually in editions of 1,000 or fewer.

Our emphasis is on utilitarian uses of art, for such vital activities as celebration, decoration, information, argumentation, rumination- and puppetry!