Identify initial font

Have this font and do not know the name. Any help or history would be appreciated. Thanks
Teri

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UnknownIinitialFont1 .JPG

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unknownInitialFontDetail .JPG

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Teri,
I believe that they are “Meridale Initials,” which were cast on a 54-point body by Keystone Type Foundry. They were shown in the ca. 1910 specimen book on page 441.
A font consisted of one of each letter and an extra “T.” There were three ornaments included (2-each) with each font.
Dave Greer

Thanks, Dave. I appreciate the information. Would love to find the ornaments.
Teri

I checked my font of the Meridale initials and one good clue is the Keystone pinmark on each piece of type with the 54 point size within the keystone herald. But I don’t have a T unless it’s somewhere tied up in an initial letter setup deeper in that particular cabinet. Someone very carefully grouped all the ornaments together by general style, so a trip to the book shelf is in order to look at the Inland catalog to see what the ornaments look like. .

Fritz

Here is a photo of the page from my Keystone specimen book, showing how the ornaments were used. See:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/39182740@N04/10705192966/
Dave

Well, by gosh, 5 or 6 cases down in the cabinet and there are the ornaments for the initials. And my missing R, T, and C are tied up in a form for a menu cover for the Rip Tide Cafe. So almost all of this font is still there. The Cafe was apparently in Friday Harbor, Washington, where I obtained this type along with 29,000 pounds of other letterpress material some 30 years ago.

In my younger days, the goal was tonnage, sort it out later. I didn’t locate my Inland catalog, but it was from an even earlier era of my collecting where quantity still mattered—the bulk of my type catalog collection came out of a Catholic monastery print shop near Los Gatos, California that carried a hefty price tag of $25.00—“we don’t need that stuff anymore.”

Fritz

Thank you all so much for the help and information. I do have the ornaments - the link you gave me, Dave is perfect! Don’t think I have the extra ‘t’ though.
Teri

I was going to respond to this thread several months ago, but waited until I was sure I could find what I was looking for. I have just spent over FIVE WEEKS cleaning and organizing my shop. I have hoarded things for decades and it got to the point that I could hardly walk around anymore. I never did have any Meridale Initials, BUT I knew that I did have a few of the ornaments for them.

This morning I finally found them!!!!! I had been looking for one or two loose ornaments, but to my great surprise I have four of all three ornaments and had them stored like a border.

I would be glad to send a set of the ornaments to anyone that has the Meridale Initials, but no ornaments. These were only offered by Keystone with the sets of initials, so it is a complete mystery to me how I ever ended up with these beauties. I have raided inumerable print shops over the decades and have no recollection of specifically where I snatched these up.

Rick

Rick

You cleaned and organized your shop? How will you ever find anything? Can’t wait to see it next time I go south! - Denis

Hi Dennis,

Yes, its pretty scary now that I can walk around and at least temporarily know where everything is.The sensory overload of finding things I had forgotten about was almost overwhelming.

Rick

Hello, I have this fount, with the keysone marking, taken over by the ATF in 1917, when would this have been made pre 1917 or under the name of ATF, when was it finally produced.
I only have one T, why were two T’s supplied?.

Thanks

I too was curious about “the extra T” comment above. As far as I know there was only one T in each font. Further clarification will be needed on the ‘two T’ comment. ATF did take over Keystone in 1917, but I do not think that ATF offered Meridale Initials. There is no way of specifically dating a year in which a font was actually cast, so the best you can do is say that your font was probably cast “pre-1917”.

Do you also have the three companion ornaments?

Rick

It is stated, in the ca. 1910 Keystone specimen book: “Each font contains one complete alphabet with an extra Initial “T” and two of each ornament” This can be read at the bottom of the page, if you magnify it:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/39182740@N04/10705192966/ It seem that they wanted to account for the other “T” in their page.
Dave Greer

Thanks Dave for the source of the extra T reference.

Rick