Last weekend I went to visit my mom, she lives an hour north of me in the town where I grew up. I had gone to community college starting back in 2003 and I always past this vintage shop, located in a building that used to be a barn. For years I drove by without ever stopping in, even though I had interest to. So this time when I went home for some reason I kept thinking about it — almost like it was calling me! So I decided to take a trip and FINALLY check it out after all this time.
I spent a good hour or so in there. Since I am a huge fan of collage and cutting things out I asked if they had any old books. I figured I could find something interesting and cheap enough to tear apart and use! But instead I came across a collection of old type books from the 1940s! I could not tell you how much the little kid in me wanted to jump up and down! I spoke to the man that works there he told me they belonged to a graphic designer named Murray Stein who lived and worked in New York City. Apparently he hoarded everything he owned and when he passed away his wife sold all of his work, books and supplies. I could not find any information on him but the man in the store told me he worked completely in the original style of graphic design – long before computers. And once technology started to take over the field, he decided to retire. The only thing that bugs me is the book has a sticker on it that says “Lou Kashins” and it is also written on the inside of the book too. Who knows, maybe Murray borrowed it and never gave it back to Lou. Either way, I am glad it ended up in my hands. I took some photos to share with you… this is only 1 of 3 books I came across. I will show the others in future posts.
Bodoni
Garamond Bold
Facing pages – Garamond Bold and Garamond Bold Italic
Goudy Cursive
Agency Gothic Regular and Open
Raleigh Gothic Condensed and Headline Gothic
This book mainly focused on the examples of type sizes. 12pt, 36pt, 72pt etc..
I took photos of the inside of this book as well…
Empire Typeface
Bernhard Tango Swash Capitals
Advertising Figures – Examples of how money should be displayed
An even smaller chart a loose single page – found within the supplement book.
