Help again please to identify initial letter font

The real name was, “Princess Combination Monograms,” and can be seen on page 199 of ATF’s 1934 catalog. A two-color font was also cast, so that the initials could show in a different color than the frame.

Dave Greer

Thanks, Dave. Any idea of their value?

I’m sorry that it is difficult to put a value on those monograms, for you. So much depends on things, like condition, completeness and rarity. It is hard to estimate how many of those fonts exist and who might be looking for them. It would not be unusual for someone to bid $75, or more, for them, but that’s my best guess.

Dave

The font is not complete and is missing one letter and several of the little top pieces. An incomplete font has diminished value, both as to usefulness and also as to value to a potential collector. It is hard to assess the wear on this type and certain letter combinations are probably much more worn than others. But anything goes on eBay and that would determine the value. There are few serious type collectors but a whole bunch of people who might think this set of 1920s monograms would be neat to have.

Fritz

Thanks both for your assistance.
Teri

Ditto to all of the above. They are charming to look at, but in reality have an extremely limited usefullness. They are MONOGRAMS, and monograms were fairly popular at the time they were introduced, for usage on social stationery and notepads, etc. When was the last time you saw anything printed with a monogram on it????? Its dainty style also limits its practical use.

The one thing it does have going for it is its rarity. I have been collecting fonts for going on four decades, and you simply do not run across this (even in the days when used type was plentiful).

Rick

Gosh, I got it with simply, ‘monograms’ without having to use CAPS and ?????????
I asked a polite and simple question for information. I would expect there is a sector of printers who appreciate old faces just for their beauty. I rarely printed with them, but loved having them in my studio, keeping them out of harms way.
This should be a forum where we all can share views, but ‘nicely’ goes a long way.
T Hunter

T Hunter
Thank you for bringing these initials to the forum and starting the discussion. We all learn some.
Please cut Rick some slack. He is very knowledgeable about type faces and has made frequent contribution to their identity. He is indeed one who appreciates old faces.

T Hunter
Thank you for bringing these monograms to the forum and starting the discussion. We have all learned something.
Please cut Rick some slack. He is very knowledgeable and has frequently helped to identify old faces. He does indeed appreciate old faces.

Only needed one

I appreciate the insight. I ceased printing and am currently clearing my studio. I printed daily for many years and had a lovely business producing custom wedding invitations on my handmade papers. It was a fine product. I printed with a kiss impression from handset type. I knew it was time to close up shop and not try to compete with crash printers using polymer plates that are used once and them useless. Given health, stage of life and downsizing a house, it is the kindest and most responsible thing I can do for a beautiful craft that was an intrinsic part of me and still is. Now, my concern is to place my precious typefaces and initial fonts with printers, not dealers. No small task on eBay. I posted an ad on Briar Press and a few of you responded and asked for a list. I have done research, done as much comparable pricing as I can find and written descriptions for my listings that inform bidders and give them a history. Next and last, comes my many fonts of Eve and I am leaving that till last. Eve and I started together 30 years ago, when, as a new printer, I found my first font left in a 2/3’s cabinet I found in a wharf-side warehouse in San Francisco.
My goal is to be logical and fair while this process is emotional and draining as I mail out beautiful things every day and trust they will be well-cared for.
T Hunter

What a beautiful note, T Hunter!

I guess I’ll simply start by saying “I call ‘em like I see ‘em”, that way I don’t ever have to remember what I said. Sorry to be a little harsh, that was not my intent. I was simply doing a reality-check.

I have spent nearly four decades collecting and saving type. I have NEVER bought any type with the thought that I could someday turn a profit on it. I simply gathered the things I wanted to play and print with. Along the way I had to haul home other things in “take it all” deals, and I have tried to pass the duplicates and “not interesteds” along to others over the years. I am presently nearing the end of a FIVE WEEK full-bore effort to clean up and organize my shop. I have spent decades stashing “stuff” here and there and it got to point where I could hardly walk around anymore.

I have always considered myself to simply be the current custodian of all of this stuff. Someday it will all be dispersed to other printers who hopefully will find the same thrills I experienced in gathering each and every bit of it. The current count of handset fonts in the shop is well over two-thousand. There are also hundreds more duplicates out in the barn and I will soon start digging them out and dragging them to wayzgooses and printer’s fairs to get them back into circulation.

Of interest to T Hunter might be the fact that I actually got my start in collecting type in downtown San Fransicsco in the mid-70s. Phototype had taken over and the typographers in SF were dumping their handset type. I literally got the crown jewels from Timely Typography as well as Reardon & Krebs before they dumped or auctioned what remained. I was too new and naive to even realize what a huge deal that was at the time. I just wanted to grab all the cool type before it was dumped. Jim Heagy was one of people who would eventually go to the auctions of what was left and haul all of that to his warehouse that you undoubtedly are referring to.

It is a SMALL SMALL world. I simply LOVE my type. Everyone has different tastes. It is an obsession. The worst part about it is that the more that you have, the more you realize that you don’t have! I have honestly stopped aggressively looking for more type years and years ago, but somehow more fonts do tend to trickle in on occassion.

Rick

Terri and I had the good fortune of visiting Rick a few summers ago. We have seen the collection of type and so much more. He has more type and such than can be visually appreciated in the few hours we were there. His shop is full and squared away (no random piles). Rick is a wonderful guy and eager to help those simply asking for it. If you need help identifying a type face, Rick is an exceptional resource.

We remain dedicated to putting restored presses into the arms of printers. Our current inventory is over 90 table top presses. If we can restore one for you give us a call or visit the website for all of the details.

Tom & Terri

www.tandtpressrestoration.com

651-730-0986

Rick,
Thank you for your thoughtful reply. I was about 5 years behind you in SF area - early to mid 80’s. The dealer’s name that I remember was Josh Sommerset….think it was called Sommerset Metals. One day he sent me to ‘Flores Press’ to look at a shop he was liquidating. There was a man sleeping/passed out on the sidewalk that I had to step over to get in and Mr. Flores had his car parked in his shop. Needless to say I was a bit nervous about leaving my car at the curb. To Sommerset’s warehouse, I’d bring a flashlight, my one and only type reference book at the time, an apple and a wet cloth to wash my hands every couple of hours after digging my way through lots of galleries. I would watch the clock so I’d not get caught in bridge traffic back to Sacramento. Did that trip often -think it was Grant Street exit from the Oakland Bay bridge.
Good luck with your cleaning process. I only had a hundred - fifty or so fonts to deal with and am nearing the end.
Teri

Josh at Sommerset!!!!! Oh now you have really opened the floodgates of my memory. Jim Heagy (and his dad at the time) generally showed up at auctions to buy type to fill their warehouse. Josh Jaffe (that was his last name) would generally clean out the places where the type was being dumped as scrap.

Sommerset Metals was a group of buildings/sheds that stretched for a whole block down the hill as I remember. Not too wide but very long. The place was covered with tin sheeting and absolutely filthy. Josh was always wearing dirty old clothes as I remember. He had a soft spot in his heart for those that truly loved the type and would put certain things aside for collectors or else call and give them tips on where to find good stuff. Other than that, it was simply a commodity to him. The place was a NATIONAL TREASURE if you took the time to dig through things.

The one big thing I took away from that place was that to this day I still travel everywhere with a set of overalls, gloves, and flashlights (especially the kind you wear on your head to keep both hands free). Everything you need to have to extract type and equipment from nasty basements and sheds with bad (or no) lighting etc. I have pulled treasures from what were to be absolutely disgusting environs. I once pulled some moldy cases out of a basement and brought them upstairs to dicker about pricing. I was going to put them down on the front counter. The owner told me not to put them down on anything but to just keep walking out to my truck with them! The basement had been flooded at one time.

Anyway, I could ramble on forever here. The one thing I found out about Josh, many years after I had moved away from California, came as a complete shock to me. Josh was always dirty and raggedy every time I remember seeing him. I guess all that changed at the end of each day, because it turned out that Josh lived in Atherton, CA (The Beverly Hills of Northern California) and had a tennis court in his backyard. Josh’s next-door neighbor was Shirley Temple Black!!!!!!!

Rest in peace Josh!

Rick

Rick,
That was where and how I found the Princess Initials. He told me what gallery to find as they were unloading the truck one morning. It was a filthy, dirty place but have great memories of digging thru all sorts of things and closing my eyes to much of it.
Thanks for the background…very interesting.
Teri

an added note…have never forgotten the galley number written in white chalk….I-23!