Saturday February 18, 2012
Filed under:
Type & Lettering
Clock
Seen in Seattle, Washington, on June 18, 2011.
Friday February 17, 2012
Filed under:
Type & Lettering
Hotpoint
Seen in Brattleboro, Vermont, on July 12, 2011.
Thursday February 16, 2012
Filed under:
Type & Lettering
Nice Numbers
I saw this while on a brain-frying four-hour hike around Atlanta with Paul Shaw to help him scout locations for his upcoming TypeCon Type Tour. Photo taken July 15, 2009.
Wednesday February 15, 2012
Filed under:
Type & Lettering
Nash Metropolitan
Seen in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on June 20, 2009.
Monday February 13, 2012
Filed under:
Roving Photographer
Type & Lettering
Citicar
Spotted this curious little car in an amazing place called M. Schettl outside of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, back in 2009. It’s a Citicar, an all-electric vehicle made back in the seventies.
Not long after I saw this relic, I happened to be watching the television movie adaptation of Ursula LeGuin’s science fiction novel, The Lathe of Heaven, starring Bruce Davidson. It was made in 1980 and was set in the (then) near future. Of course, they needed some futuristic looking cars, and I guess the Citicar fit the bill. They used several of them for the film. I wouldn’t have known what they were if I hadn’t just seen this one in Oshkosh.
There’s something forlorn about seeing this little car rusting away among the other antiques they had there. The future is never quite what people think it will be.
Check out the logo on the dashboard and over the rear bumber: Amelia—the erstwhile number-one choice when you wanted to say “future” with a font.
Sunday February 12, 2012
Filed under:
Type & Lettering
Otis
Seen on the floor of an elevator in Madison, Wisconsin, on March 21, 2011.
Saturday February 11, 2012
Filed under:
Type & Lettering
Spoof
Seen in Galesville, Wisconsin, on July 28, 2011.
Thursday February 9, 2012
Filed under:
Type & Lettering
Crazy "g"
Saw this at Mystic Blue Signs in New Orleans last summer during TypeCon. It was in a big old French book about lettering and engraving. I wish I’d written down some information about it. I think it was from around 1880. Heard from someone that it is from 1859.
The alphabet on this particular page was very unexpected. It looks almost like Avant Garde in some ways. And dig that crazy “g”! Way ahead of its time.
Wednesday February 8, 2012
Filed under:
Type & Lettering
Stage Magazine, February 1938
I picked this up in a used book store in Omaha, Nebraska, last year. Most people who might collect a magazine like this would be interested in the content—photos and articles about Broadway of the 1930s. I find that interesting, too. But the reason I decided to buy it was because of the design and lettering it contained.
The contents page lists a guy named Nelson Gruppo as art director. I’ve never heard of him, but he certainly had style. The typographic above treatment graces the contents page. (That copy is pretty ridiculous, though.)
Elsewhere in the magazine, lettering artists did many of the feature titles:
Even more lettering gems are found in the advertisements:
I’d like to think it must have been fun to be a lettering artist back then. It sure looks like fun, anyway. Unfortunately, there are no credits for the lettering. I wouldn’t be surprised if the great Tommy Thompson did some of these.
Tuesday February 7, 2012
Filed under:
Type & Lettering
Seeburg
Seen in an antique store near Burlington, Vermont, on July 13, 2011.
Monday February 6, 2012
Filed under:
Type & Lettering
Fine Ice Creams
Seen in Santa Crus, California, on April 4, 2008.
Friday February 3, 2012
Filed under:
Type & Lettering
Varsity
Seen in Davis, California, on April 5, 2008.
Thursday February 2, 2012
Filed under:
Type & Lettering
RCA Ashcraft
Seen at the Eastman House, Rochester, New York, July 19, 2008. I think this was on the side of an old movie projector that was on display.
Wednesday February 1, 2012
Filed under:
Type & Lettering
Safari
Another cool nameplate, seen on June 20, 2009, in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Tuesday January 31, 2012
Filed under:
Type & Lettering
Personal Archaeology
Bel Air
We live a few blocks from the Minnesota State Fairgrounds, and every summer the “Back to the Fifties” car show is held there. There’s usually no need to actually pay to get into it to see the cars—our neighborhood is full of them, cruising around, for the duration of the show. But lately I’ve paid to get in, mainly to get shots of the nameplates, or “brightwork” as it is known.
The Chevy “Bel Air” nameplate, from the late-fifties, is my all-time favorite. The design is so simple and stylish. (Photo taken in Saint Paul, Minnesota, June 20, 2009.)
There might be a personal bias to my “Bel Air” preference. We always had Chevies when I was a kid, a ’59 Bel Air and a ’64 Bel Air—the car I learned to drive on and the car I drove during high school in the early seventies. Here’s a cartoon painting I did of it back then as a joke:
(When I was in high school, I had a little side business doing cartoon drawings of cars like this for my friends. I’ll post more of them sometime.)
Monday January 30, 2012
Filed under:
Type & Lettering
Four Door
Seen in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, on March 28, 2009.
Saturday January 28, 2012
Filed under:
Type & Lettering
X-Ray
Gee, they make it seem like a good thing.
This was actually for something that was used in shoe stores back in the forties. People put their feet inside an x-ray machine so that they could have their feet “scientifically” measured for shoes. That was before they realized how dangerous it was.
Seen in a museum in Madison, Wisconsin, March 30, 2010.
Friday January 27, 2012
Filed under:
Type & Lettering
Casin(o)
Seen in La Crosse, Wisconsin, April 2, 2010.
Monday January 23, 2012
Filed under:
Type & Lettering
More From Route 66: Barstow
Shot in Barstow, California, on August 17, 2010.
Sunday January 22, 2012
Filed under:
Type & Lettering
Palomino Motel on Route 66
We actually stayed in this motel along historic Route 66 on our way to TypeCon when it was in Los Angeles in 2010. The sign was definitely part of the appeal. Not the best place I’ve ever stayed. But really, what can you expect for $26 per night? On the other hand—free WiFi!
Shot in Tucumcari, New Mexico, on August 14, 2010.
Saturday January 21, 2012
Filed under:
Type & Lettering
Bucket o' Letters
Seen in an antique store in Mount Vernon, Iowa, October 23, 2010.