Category: Press and typeface identification
Later topic: Help Identifying Mystery Parts (Possibly Original...
Earlier topic: Monogram? Initials?

Unkown Gothic 48 pt

Hi Everyone,

This 48 point came into the shop and I was instantly thinking some flavor of Univers due to the weird flat tail of the Q. Other letters do not match though. Can anyone help id this? Pin mark looks like just 48 in a circle.

Lowercase descenders have some really precarious kerns.

Thanks

Mike Moore APA 996

image: j.jpg

j.jpg

image: kerning1.jpg

kerning1.jpg

image: kerning2.jpg

kerning2.jpg

image: descenders.jpg

descenders.jpg

Log in to reply   5 replies so far

I am really stumped! Certainly not Univers due to the ‘Scs’ with angled terminals, and the very circular ‘C’. And what is going on with that pointy cap ‘Z’?

I think I tracked it down as Gothic No. 122. It’s one of those tricksters because it’s so different between sizes.

Specimens:
ATF 1897
ATF 1898
ATF 1899
Pettingill ca. 1901
Hansen 1909 (as Lining Gothic No. 18)

It’s remarkable how much Helvetica is in this 19th-century design. The caps even go as far back as 1856!

image: Boston 1856.jpg

Boston 1856.jpg

A few more specimens under different names:
Boston 1880
Cincinnati 1882
Palmer & Rey 1884
Palmer & Rey 1887
Cincinnati 1888
Boston 1889 (different lowercase)
1893 Barnhard Bros. & Spindler
1895 ATF

image: pacificcoastblue00amerrich_0314.jpg

pacificcoastblue00amerrich_0314.jpg

image: Untitled.png

Untitled.png

This was very helpful! Thank you so much.