Dry Transfer Lettering — Germany — perhaps circa 1970 ?
Thomas Phinney
Posts: 2,955
I might also be looking for help with a blackletter font ID, but for now, looking for any advice on what companies had significant market share for dry transfer lettering (such as Letraset) in German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) circa 1970. Anyone besides Letraset?
I started by just doing a quick look through ... every blackletter typeface on MyFonts. 853 families later, not one was even close!
I started by just doing a quick look through ... every blackletter typeface on MyFonts. 853 families later, not one was even close!
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I can recommend this book as a great resource on blackletter:0
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@Florian Hardwig is the guy.
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So far, looking also at Mecanorma, Prestype and Chartpak. I've seen listings from everybody but Chartpak with no luck.0
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Thanks, @Stephen Coles & @George Thomas!
Florian helped me out once before.
And for blackletter, Dan Reynolds would be on my short-list of go-to people. 1 -
Formatt? Ad-Letter? I have a great reference called Dry Fonts which is a book that was released in the 1970s that documented all the press-type fonts available during that period if it's helpful Thomas. DM me.0
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We’ve listed all the dry transfer lettering companies I know at Fonts In Use. The only one I know that is specifically German is Abifol/Jürafix/Typofix.2
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Wow, that's handy. Thanks all! Stuart: I will be in touch.0
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I’d be happy to help. The medium of whatever you are looking at is probably paramount. In 1970, the number of still in-use (or at least theoretically available for use) metal blackletter typefaces was huge (because of old type in print shop drawers, etc.). The number of blackletter fonts available in other media would have been rather small.
Where in Germany the thing was made is also a potential narrower downer.2 -
Letraset was big in the German-speaking world, and Mecanorma had offices in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, too. While I can’t rule out that Formatt, Prestype, Chartpak etc. distributed their products in Germany, too, I haven’t seen evidence for it yet. The manufacturers mentioned by Stewf, Abifol/Jürafix/Typofix, were active in the GDR (East Germany) only. There are also a number of office supply brands that sold (and are still selling) dry-transfer lettering sheets, like Herlitz, Edding, APLI Decadry. At least Edding was in this market already in the 1970s.3
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I wish we could change the site rules to allow Font ID requests only by @Thomas Phinney. If that guy makes a font ID request you know it's gotta be fascinating!4
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I can’t be 100% certain of the printing/lettering process, especially seeing as I have not seen the original document. The type is ~ 36- or 38-point, roughly. The letters are sometimes coming off a bit against the glass that they have been behind (possibly for nearly 50 years). So that makes me think of dry transfer. Although foil stamping (with a non-metallic foil) could do that, too. Or it could be some other process that I am not immediately thinking of.
Anyhow, I shall take this offline with interested parties. 0 -
Out of print! Around $170 second-hand. Which does not rule it out completely, just makes it a bit less attractive as an option.George Thomas said:I can recommend this book as a great resource on blackletter:
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I am trusting that by asking for general info, and not posting samples I have managed to skirt the prohibition on font ID postings here on TypeDrawers. But I trust a moderator will straighten me out if I have gone too far!
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BTW, I got an ID on this, thanks to some of my Typedrawers friends here. Now I am off reading and researching further, because the history is ... complicated. Thanks folks!0
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Not sure if it could be of help, as you were speaking of German speaking countires, but in Italy R41 had this style (which I seem to get had a generic name, possibly “(Carattere) Medievale nero, Gotico RN”.
See also here: https://www.ebottega.it/catalogo.asp?sito=trasferibilir41&Cat=26
And here: https://www.ebottega.it/scheda.asp?sito=trasferibilir41-R41LNRN82n&descriz=53mm-NERO.-Trasferelli-Trasferibili-R41-in-fogli-9x25cm.-Let
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Thanks, @Claudio Piccinini, that is interesting.
But let's take this off-forum — I feel like this has really headed over the line into font ID territory, which would be against forum rules.0 -
Good, I seriously miss the identification section from Typophile, however.Thomas Phinney said:Thanks, @Claudio Piccinini, that is interesting.
But let's take this off-forum — I feel like this has really headed over the line into font ID territory, which would be against forum rules. 0 -
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Are you all there? If not, I’m not interested.Mark Simonson said: 0 -
I'm most of the way there. But there is more to be done yet, as well. I know the typeface without a doubt. But the font, and even the font technology, are still TBD.
I've pinged Claudio offline. 0 -
Are you all there?
Sorry, I had to give it up. Procrastination hazard.2 -
Heh… I was half-joking, I know the problem of course.Mark Simonson said:
Sorry, I had to give it up. Procrastination hazard. 0 -
Finally located my copy of this book and found more details for those who are interested: https://gramho.com/media/17852519415392786904
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Droooooool!0
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@Stuart Sandler Very useful! Is there an index of the manufacturers included?
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Artype, C-Thru Graphics, Cello-Tak, Chartpak, Letraset, Normatype, Prestype, Tactype and Zipatone.
To be sure, if there were some way I could share this digitally, get dupes made legally and ethnically, etc I would be on board with any suggestions.
All ears!0 -
BTW, here's a direct link to Fernando Mello's IG post of Dry Faces which Gramho (unethically) does not link to.0
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Lovely!
BTW, Claudio’s ID was the correct one, and the case ultimately settled out of court. I wish I could tell you all about it, but I can say it involved a very famous work of art (as in, I have seen it in a museum) worth *many* millions of dollars. An expurgated explanation may show up in one of my future talks….2 -
I proposed this as a talk for ATypI. I wouldn’t be able to talk about everything, but a lot, at least.1
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