Monday June 30, 2008 / Filed under: Old Type & Lettering
The Golden Age of Chrome
A couple of weekends ago, I attended the “Back to the Fifties” car show in St. Paul. This was the first time for me, despite the fact that we live within walking distance of the Minnesota State Fair Grounds, where the show takes place every year. Since the cars are always cruising around our neighborhood when the event is held, we never felt a pressing need to pay the admission fee. But this year, I decided to get a closer look.
I was glad I brought my camera. I realized what a great opportunity it was to snap photos of car nameplates—the stylized chrome lettering that adorns automobiles. The Fifties was an especially inventive period for “brightwork,” as it is called. For practical reasons, script styles were most often used—it meant that the nameplate could be molded in a single piece of metal. It was a treasure trove.
Here are some gems that I found:
Tuesday May 27, 2008 / Filed under: Old Type & Lettering
Ingento
I dragged my old paper cutter up from the basement to use for something I was working on, and the “Ingento” label fell off it onto the floor. I had forgotten what a beautiful logo this is. Just lovely.
Monday March 24, 2008 / Filed under: Old Type & Lettering
Greetings from Mike Meyer
Mike Meyer is a sign painter based in Mazeppa, Minnesota. I first knew of Mike’s work from the beautiful hand-painted signs he did for a restaurant in St. Paul called Andy’s Garage. (Unfortunately, the original location where I saw them in St. Paul is closed now, but his signs can still be seen at the Minneapolis location in the Midtown Commons.) Last year, Mike discovered my site and we began corresponding by email a bit. Recently, he sent me some photos of cool signs he took on a trip through the south. With his permission, here are a few of them:
Tuesday March 11, 2008 / Filed under: Old Type & Lettering
Amazing Old Album Covers
Ever wondered why albums are called “albums”? At one time, a record album was literally an album that contained records.
A few years ago, I ran across a handful of them in an antique store. They were all from around 1949 or so and contained 45 r.p.m. discs. A lot of the records were missing, but I had to buy them because they had the most amazing cover designs. I wonder who designed them?
The first two are Fred Waring albums on the Decca label and the third is a collection of opera duets on RCA Victor. They remind me of the new wave album covers of the early Eighties used by groups like The Art of Noise. Or maybe it’s the other way around. I love how “45” is put in quotes on the RCA album—as if it’s not really 45 r.p.m.
This Columbia Records Benny Goodman Sextet album seems to have some Joan Miró influence. Spaced out Bodoni Italic, dotted lines, bee-bop cartouches—what’s not to like? Notice how they advertise that the records are “unbreakable.” This must have been a big marketing issue at the time.
The last two are Nat “King” Cole albums released by Capitol Records. They both feature bold, lively abstract designs in which Cole is represented by a crown. In the first one, it even looks kind of like him. The piano is reduced to a big red shape (the lid) and a few small white ones (the keys) with emanating sound waves tying it all together. The second one uses sound waves again, but shown more like a stream of air flowing around the musicians. Whatever. It’s cool.
Wednesday February 13, 2008 / Filed under: Old Type & Lettering
Adam Top Hats
Logo on a hat box, seen in an antique store in Oneonta, New York, July 7, 2007. Those are some snappy caps.
Tuesday October 9, 2007 / Filed under: Old Type & Lettering
A Little Lotto
Vintage Lotto game boxes. Photographed (top to bottom) at Kellogg, Minnesota, August 21, 2004; Hopkins, Minnesota, December 18, 2004; Wisconsin Dells, July 31, 2004; and Kellogg, Minnesota, August 21, 2004.
Thursday September 20, 2007 / Filed under: Old Type & Lettering
What the Sims Eat for Breakfast
Seen at the Mill City Museum in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 28, 2007.
Saturday July 28, 2007 / Filed under: Old Type & Lettering
Neon Graveyard
Outstanding set of photos by Carl Carl from the Neon Graveyard in Las Vegas. (Via Boing Boing.)
Tuesday June 19, 2007 / Filed under: Old Type & Lettering
The Modern
The “Modern” has seen many incarnations over the years. Originally it was a laundromat—The Modern Laundry. Back in the ‘80s it was The Modern Times Café. Now it’s a Mexican restaurant called La Isla Del Kora. Through it all, those giant art deco letters have always remained. It’s a monument to a “now” that has long passed. That it has survived this long makes me happy. (Photographed on April 29, 2007, in Minneapolis.)
Thursday June 7, 2007 / Filed under: Old Type & Lettering
Coquette Sign
Not a font sighting. Seen in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on August 8, 2006.
Wednesday March 21, 2007 / Filed under: Old Type & Lettering
The Story of Mrs. Murphy (1949)
I don’t know or care what this book is about, but the lettering on the cover is incredible. Seen in an antique store in West Salem, Wisconsin, on August 19, 2006.
Thursday August 17, 2006 / Filed under: Old Type & Lettering
Twenty Three
Dimensional letters seen on a building in Cambridge, Massachusetts, August 8, 2006.
Sunday August 6, 2006 / Filed under: Old Type & Lettering
TypeCon 2006, Boston: Part 0
Just arrived in Boston yesterday for TypeCon 2006. While walking along the famous Freedom Trail, I snapped this photo of a great vintage sign. Scooby seems to like it, too. (By the way, if you walk on the Freedom Trail the wrong direction, should it be called the Tyranny Trail?)
Monday July 24, 2006 / Filed under: Old Type & Lettering
Chess Board
Lettering on the back of an antique cardboard chess board. Discovered in a yard sale, St. Paul, Minnesota, summer 2005.
Monday April 10, 2006 / Filed under: Old Type & Lettering
Orange Varsity
Last week I was in upstate New York and discovered this beautiful Art Deco sign on the Syracuse University campus. Photo taken April 7, 2006, in Syracuse, New York.
Thursday November 10, 2005 / Filed under: Old Type & Lettering
Ampersand Studio 1111
I don’t know what’s in this building, but I like the 1970s-style script lettering on their sign. Those ones look like dancing scimitars. Photographed on April 1, 2005 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Thursday September 15, 2005 / Filed under: Old Type & Lettering
Fill 'er Up with Memories
Recently, my family and I paid a visit to West Virginia for my in-laws’ anniversary. While we were there, my partner, Pat, came across a little place called Fill ‘er Up with Memories in Berkeley Springs. I wasn’t with her at the time, but happily she had our camera with her and, knowing how I love this kind of thing, took some photos.
The place itself is a kind of museum in which the proprietor, David Weidemoyer, has put on display his personal collection of “petroliana” as well as his wife’s doll collection and an assortment of toys. It’s not a store, but he’s interested in selling some of the petroliana stuff. He’s become more interested in enameled signs.
When I was a little kid, I had a toy gas station very similar to this. It was made of lithographed tin and plastic. I seem to recall spending a lot of time with it. Kids are strange little creatures.
Some oil cans. I love the script lettering on the Artex can. Not a bit of type on any of these—it’s all hand-lettering.
Old gas price sign. Dream on.
(All photos by Pat Thompson, taken on September 4, 2005.)
Monday May 23, 2005 / Filed under: Old Type & Lettering
Hy-Gard Hy-Giene Soap
Vintage soap package seen in an antique store in Hopkins, Minnesota, December 18, 2004.
Monday April 18, 2005 / Filed under: Old Type & Lettering
Kodak Retina IIIc Box
A Kodak package design from the early 1950s, from the collection of Knut Simonson. Photo taken January 1, 2005, Cranberry Township, Ohio.
My uncle Knut worked as a graphic designer for Kodak during the 70s and 80s. I visited him recently and discovered he had acquired some really cool old Kodak packages while he was there. This one is my favorite.
Monday January 17, 2005 / Filed under: Old Type & Lettering
J.J. Newberry Co.
I’ve been meaning to get a photo of this sign ever since I first saw it. Over the holidays, we stopped to eat nearby and I remembered to get a few shots of it. Photos taken December 31, 2004 in Owego, New York.
Thursday December 9, 2004 / Filed under: Old Type & Lettering
Beau-Ties
Like it says on the box: “For Niceness In Shoes.” Seen in an antique store on July 7, 2004 in Prescott, Minnesota.