Mark Simonson's Notebook - Page 14
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.
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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 treatment above 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.
Seen in an antique store near Burlington, Vermont, on July 13, 2011.
On one of the many times I have visited the Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum, I got a peek at the hundreds of “cuts” they had stored in the back. These are large wood and linoleum plates made mainly for posters. Most of them came from Globe Printing in Chicago. I think they had arrived fairly recently when I saw them.
One in particular caught my eye. I recall that it was about two or three feet wide. On one side was this design, obviously intended for use on political posters:
But on the reverse side was this amazing piece of craftsmanship and ingenuity:
Apparently, cuts were reused when they were no longer needed. In this case, a larger plate was cut down. Not only that, but the open areas were filled in, mosaic fashion, to ensure an even impression for the new cut on the other side. To my eye, the discarded design was the more interesting one. It looks like it read “…ES BROS.” I really like the design of the “B”:
(Photos taken in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, on March 30, 2009.)
I finally got around to framing the beautiful commemorative print I got from the Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum back in 2009. To give you an idea of the size, the frame is five feet tall. By far the biggest thing I’ve ever had framed. Here are a couple close-up shots:
I love the part below the big heading where it says, “THIS IS THE SMALLEST WOOD TYPE EVER MADE, OUT OF A MACHINE WEIGHING 950 POUNDS”.
The print was taken from a literal showcase of Hamilton Wood Type made for the 1893 Columbia Exposition in Chicago. It’s composed of virgin (never used for printing) wood type, some of it painted. If you have seen wood type before, it’s usually dark brown in color, stained from use. This is what the stuff looked like when it was brand new.
The curators of the Hamilton were able to pull prints from the showcase without getting a bit of ink on it. The display was taken out of its protective case and wrapped in 3M window insulator film. The film was inked and the prints were pulled from that. It’s not as crisp as a print taken directly from wood type, but it’s the first time any kind of print was made from this old type in over 100 years.
More photos here. If you’re at all interested in type, wood type, or letterpress printing, I highly recommend paying a visit to the Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum. It’s in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, about a couple hours by car north of Milwaukee.