Peter Max
Photo-Lettering, Inc.
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Alphabets: Riverside Drive
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Typography: Axel E. Sahlin
According to the Sweden, Indexed Birth Records, at Ancestry.com, Axel Edvard Sahlin was born October 13, 1877, in Lund. His parents were Nils Edvard Sahlin and Anna Anderberg. In 1911, Sahlin emigrated to the United States where his work caught the eyes of several graphic arts magazines.
September 1912
The Inland Printer
November 1912
Sahlin profile
The Printing Art
December 1912
To Axil Edw. Sahlin, East Aurora, N.Y., was awarded third prize in this month’s contest It will be recalled that Mr. Sahlin was also awarded first prize in the September contest His work is always interesting, the designs submitted this month being no exception. These are all advertisements from Elbert Hubbard’s magazine, The Fra, and possess much distinction. It is fair to presume that many of these were written by Mr. Hubbard, and into their typographic dress Mr. Sahlin has incorporated a style somewhat in keeping with the Hubbard fashion of advertisement writing. A characteristic example is here reproduced. This would have perhaps presented a better appearance if the outside rule border had been omitted. Nevertheless, it is an attractive, readable advertisement and one that is sure to be noticed. In its original form it was printed in two colors.
July 1913
Cover-Page Contest
Contestant: Sahlin, Axel E., East Aurora, N.Y.
Typography by Charles J. Rosen and Axel Edward Sahlin
W.H. Wise & Company, 1916
Buffalo Courier-Express
(New York)
July 31, 1916
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World War I Draft Card
Sahlin signed his draft card on June 5, 1917. He resided in East Aurora, New York. Born in Lund, Sweden, October 13, 1877, he was a naturalized U.S. citizen. Sahlin was the composing room foreman at “The Roycrofters”. His description on the card was tall, slender, light blue eyes and light brown hair.
Buffalo Courier-Express
September 16, 1917
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February 1919
Sahlin’s Typography, Volume Two, 1919
Sahlin’s Typography, Volume Two, 1919
1920 U.S. Federal Census
Sahlin, his wife, Esther, and their daughter, Anna Greta, resided in East Aurora, New York, at 210 Willow Street. His occupation was printing shop foreman. According to the census, Esther emigrated in 1917, and Anna Greta was 14 months old.Buffalo Courier-Express
May 22, 1920
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May 22, 1920
Annual meeting of the Canadian Weekly Newspaper Association; June 3 afternoon address: “A Tallk on Typography,” A.E. Sahlin, typographical artist for the Roycroft Print Shops, East Aurora, N.Y.
The Pacific Printer
December 1920
The American Printer
August 5, 1921
Sahlin’s Typography
The American Printer
September 20 1921
The Inland Printer
October 1921
Sahlin’s Typography, Volume Four, 1921
The Inland Printer
January 1922
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September 5, 1922
Passenger List
Sahlin and his family returned from Copenhagen, Denmark, on September 4, 1922. A photograph of Sahlin, holding his son, and his father appeared in The American Printer, October 20, 1922 (below).Sahlin, his wife, daughter and son, Axel Jr., resided at 127 South Street in East Aurora, New York. Sahlin’s trade was typographical designer.
Buffalo Courier-Express
July 2, 1925
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Buffalo Courier-Express
July 8, 1925
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1926 copyright
Buffalo Courier-Express
June 26, 1927
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Buffalo Courier-Express
February 23, 1928
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Buffalo Courier-Express
February 24, 1928
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1930 U.S. Federal Census
Sahlin‘s home was in Tonawanda, New York at 29 Linden Avenue. He was a printer at a printing company.Passenger List
Sahlin and his family returned from Gothenburg, Denmark, on September 1, 1930.
Buffalo Courier-Express
June 10, 1938
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Buffalo Courier-Express
July 11, 1939
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1940 U.S. Federal Census
Sahlin and his family remained at the sane 1930 address. According to the census, Sahlin’s highest level of education was the seventh grade. He was a self-employed typographer and his son was an apprentice typographer.Buffalo Courier-Express
July 14, 1940
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Buffalo Courier-Express
October 20, 1940
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Buffalo Courier-Express
May 4, 1945
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Buffalo Courier-Express
August 12, 1945
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Buffalo Courier-Express
September 13, 1945
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Passenger List
Sahlin and his wife returned from Gothenburg, Denmark, on August ?, 1947.
Buffalo Courier-Express
December 11, 1949
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Buffalo Courier-Express
May 18, 1955
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Buffalo Courier-Express
March 9, 1956
Death Notice
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Sahlin—Axel E. Sahlin of 50 Rankin Rd., Synder, March 8, 1956, beloved husband of Esther Kristerson Sahlin; father of Mrs. Graydon Grinnell and the late Axel E. Sahlin Jr.; grandfather of Terry Lee Grinnell; son of Anna Sahlin of Malmo, Sweden; brother of Emil Sahlin, Mrs. Signe Darling of East Aurora and Anna Carlson and Hudda Hansson, both of Sweden. Friends may call at the Bury Funeral Home, 3070 Delaware, corner Kinsey, where funeral services will be held Saturday afternoon at 3 o’clock. Friends are invited. Mr. Sahlin was a member of Blazing Star Lodge, 694, F.&A.M., East Aurora, East Aurora Chapter 282, R.A.M., Swedish Club of Buffalo and Buffalo Club of Printing House Craftsmen.
Buffalo Courier-Express
March 9, 1956
Obituary
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Axel E. Sahlin, 68, owner of the Sahlin Typographic Service, 296 Delaware Ave., who had learned typography from the late Elbert Hubbard, died yesterday in Buffalo General Hospital. He lived at 50 Rankin Rd., Snyder.
Mr. Sahlin became a pupil of Hubbard’s in his Roycroft Shops in East Aurora after coming to this country at the age of 23 from his native Malmo, Sweden.
He established the business bearing his name about 25 years ago.
Active in Swedish cultural activities here, he had served as president from 1942 through 1944 of the Swedish Club of Buffalo.
His other activities included membership in the Buffalo Club of Printing House Craftsmen, Blazing Star Lodge of Masons of East Aurora, and East Aurora Chapter of Royal Arch Masons.
Survivors are his wife, the former Esther Kristerson; a daughter. Mrs. Graydon Grinnell; his mother, Mrs. Anna Sahlin of Malmo; a brother, Emil. and three sisters. Mrs. Signe Darling of East Aurora and Mrs. Anna Carlson and Mrs. Hulda Hansson of Sweden.
The Rev. Russell Swanson of Trinity Augustana Lutheran Church will conduct services at 3 tomorrow afternoon in the Bury Funeral Home, 3070 Delaware Ave., Kenmore. Burial will be in Elmlawn Cemetery, of Tonawanda.
Mr. Sahlin became a pupil of Hubbard’s in his Roycroft Shops in East Aurora after coming to this country at the age of 23 from his native Malmo, Sweden.
He established the business bearing his name about 25 years ago.
Active in Swedish cultural activities here, he had served as president from 1942 through 1944 of the Swedish Club of Buffalo.
His other activities included membership in the Buffalo Club of Printing House Craftsmen, Blazing Star Lodge of Masons of East Aurora, and East Aurora Chapter of Royal Arch Masons.
Survivors are his wife, the former Esther Kristerson; a daughter. Mrs. Graydon Grinnell; his mother, Mrs. Anna Sahlin of Malmo; a brother, Emil. and three sisters. Mrs. Signe Darling of East Aurora and Mrs. Anna Carlson and Mrs. Hulda Hansson of Sweden.
The Rev. Russell Swanson of Trinity Augustana Lutheran Church will conduct services at 3 tomorrow afternoon in the Bury Funeral Home, 3070 Delaware Ave., Kenmore. Burial will be in Elmlawn Cemetery, of Tonawanda.
June 1956
Axel Sahlin, Typographical and Layout Specialist, Dies
Axel E. Sahlin, 68, owner of the Axel Edw. Sahlin Typographic Service, Buffalo, N.Y., died recently. He was a nationally-known typographic artist. He served his printing apprenticeship in Sweden in his father’s shop and worked in several book printing plants there. He came to the United States in 1911 and went to work for Elbert Hubbard in the Roycroft Shops in East Aurora, N.Y. He rose from typographer to foreman, then to superintendent of typesetting, and later became a typographical and layout specialist.Mr. Sahlin had designed extraordinary books, some costing as high as $1,000 each. He had won 22 prizes in this and other countries for his work. Mr. Sahlin established the business bearing his name about 25 years ago. He was a member of the Buffalo Club of Printing House Craftsmen. The craftsmen he trained throughout the years will continue the business. A brother, Emil Georg Sahlin, is also nationally known as a typographic artist, and has won several Printing Week poster and stamp contests.
Buffalo Courier-Express
March 10, 1957
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Lettering: IF
Life
September 6, 1907
“IF: The Grave of Our Dreams”
Illustration by Art Young
The drawing is mentioned in
Life volume includes Young illustrations from
August 22, October 17, and November 14.
The Inland Printer
September 1909
Selling Arts
January 1932
Frontline Combat
#5, March/April 1952
EC Comics
Story and art by Harvey Kurtzman
if
Worlds of Science Fiction
(Tomorrow: The Jack Kirby Museum Pop-Up)
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Street Scene: The Jack Kirby Museum Pop-Up
The Jack Kirby Museum was the first of seven pop-up storefronts scheduled to appear at 178 Delancey Street, just three buildings away from Kirby’s residence at 172 (1930 census), and not far from his birthplace. The museum was there from November 4th to the 10th. A New York Times article covered the event and Eric Ho, who conceived the project.
(Next post on Monday: O.A. Olson, Ames Lettering Guide Inventor)
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Creator: O.A. Olson, Ames Lettering Guide Inventor
In the 1900 U.S. Federal Census, Olson was a servant in the Mickelson household, which consisted of the parents, their four children and a female servant. Mr. Mickelson was a dealer in dry goods and groceries. Apparently, Olson worked for him as a salesman.
Olson attended Iowa State College. The photograph of Olson (left) is from the 1907 yearbook, The Bomb. He graduated in 1908.
Olson has not been found in the 1910 census. Who’s Who in American Education said he married Goldie Payne of Lincoln, Nebraska, on January 23, 1911.
The Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts 1914 named the graduates of June 1914. Olson received a degree in mechanical engineering. According to Who’s Who in American Education, Olson received his masters degree.
The 1915 Iowa State Census recorded Olson and his wife in Ames. He was a draftsman who had four years of high school and four years of college. And he was a Lutheran.
The Iowa Official Register for the Years 1915–1916 had information on Iowa State College. In the category of instructors was “Oscar Anton Olson, B.M.E., Mechanical Engineering.” The State of Iowa 1916, Report of the Iowa State Board of Education said: “Oscar Anton Olson from Instructor to Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering.”
On September 12, 1918, Olson signed his World War I draft card. He was an assistant professor in mechanical engineering at Iowa State College. Olson and his wife, Goldie, resided at 617 Clark Avenue in Ames, Iowa. He was described as medium height and build, with brown eyes and hair.
Olson was at the same address in the 1920 census. His occupation was college teacher and he had a four-year-old daughter, Louise.
Five years later, the Iowa state census listed Olson, his wife, two daughters and mother-in-law at 706 Wilson in Ames.
All of them were found in the 1930 census in Ames at a different address, 712 Tenth Street. Olson continued as a college teacher. The 1936 Ames city directory said Olson was the acting head and associate Professor of Engineering Drawing at Iowa Sate College.
The photograph of Olson (above) is from the 1938 Iowa State College yearbook, The Bomb.
Olson’s address was unchanged in the 1940 census. Olson’s job was drawing engineer at the state college. He retired in 1948.
According to the Social Security Death Index, Olson passed away in March 1971. His last known residence was Ankeny, Iowa.
Engineering Design Graphics Journal (1971) reprinted the following article from the Ames Daily Tribune, March 18, 1971.
“One of the many reasons the name ‘Ames’ is known far and wide is a little device developed by O.A. Olson. Called by him the ‘Ames Lettering Guide’ the small instrument probably has been used by nearly every aspiring engineer or draftsman who was ever enrolled in a mechanical drawing class.
“Simple in its design, the device allowed the draftsman to put precisely-spaced lines on his drawing as a guide to the lettering required to identify various parts and the plate itself. For more than half a century, Mr. Olson’s invention has been in widespread general use.
“For many years, the manufacture of the lettering guide was carried on in the basement of his home, and the work of assembling, packing and shipping furnished employment for several generations of college students and student wives.
“Mr. Olson took great pride in his little manufacturing operation, showing visitors around with detailed explanation. He ducked under furnace pipes with comments about the ‘low overhead’ and explained that the assembly area was below ‘the kitchen upstairs, where we make the dough.’
“The Ames lettering device was not his only invention. He also perfected a number of items intended for use in teaching geometry and for other mechanical drawing applications, including the Draft-pak used by school students here and elsewhere.
“He had a great imagination, enetrprise [sic], practicality and with it all, a great love of life. Along with many other people here, we held a great affection for him.”
O.A. Olson, 87, died at his daughter’s home in Cedar Rapids on Monday, March 15, 1971.
Born on December 12, 1883 at Tonsburg, Norway, he came to the United States as a small child. He graduated from Iowa State University in 1908 with a B.S. degree and in 1914 earned the M. E. degree. He was appointed to the staff of mechanical engineering in 1913 and served with the department until 1935 when he became head of the engineering drawing department. He retired in 1948. Professor Olson founded the O. A. Olson Manufacturing Company in 1919 to produce the Ames lettering guide which sold all over the world. He is also the inventor of a valve seating machine as well as developing a number of graphic design teaching aids.
Besides being a member of the Ascension Lutheran Church, he was a charter member of the Sioux City Rotary Club and held membership in the Ames Rotary Club. He aided many engineering students by offering them work in his plant, thus enabling them to graduate. Professor Olson is named in “American Man of Science”, “Who’s Who in Iowa”, “Who’s Who in America”, “Who’s Who in Education of Norwegian Origin” and “Who’s Who in American Education”. He is survived by two daughters, Mrs. Wright of Cedar Rapids and Mrs. Huston of Ames, a sister, Anna G. Olson of Fergus Falls, Minnesota, a half-sister, Mrs. Nettie Mattison of Bingham Lakes, Minnesota, seven grandchildren and one great grandchild.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Goldie Payne O. Olson, and a brother.
The Spring 1993 issue of Engineering Design Graphics Journal published a recollection of a meeting with Olson.
...I had the pleasure of meeting Professor O. A. Olson, the inventor, manufacturer and distributor of the Ames Lettering Instrument, at the ASEE Annual Conference in 1956 at Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa. I don’t know that Professor Olson ever peddled his product door-to-door, but it was always available in college bookstores and on display at ASEE conferences where samples were freely distributed. The Ames Lettering Instrument is among the most useful and long lived of many such devices appearing during the past fifty years. In the original Ames Lettering Instrument, the rotating plastic disk was secured in a bent-wire frame. The wire frame tended to rust and get out of shape, and was soon replaced by a plastic mount, a great improvement. It is possible that some of our younger members have never used, or before heard of, the Ames Lettering Instrument. Back in the “old days” when drawings were annotated with hand-lettered notes, light guide lines were ruled as an aid to maintaining straight evenly spaced lines of letters. The Ames Lettering Instrument greatly simplified the rather tedious and boring task of ruling guide lines. It is my understanding that the Ames Manufacturing Company has provided jobs for countless Iowa State University engineering students over the past half-century.
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Draftsmen were using lettering triangles to draw guide lines. The Iowa Engineer, May 1912, published a version (below).
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The 1921 Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser Co., Manufacturers and Importers Drawing Materials featured their Xylonite Lettering Triangle (below).
The Pease Unique Lettering Angle was advertised in The American Stationer and Office Outfitter, October 22, 1921 and Industrial Arts Magazine, December 1922 (below).
In 1925 the Keuffel & Esser Company submitted a patent application for a “Drafting Instrument” which was published in 1929.
The Iowa Engineer mentioned Olson’s inventions, including the lettering device, in its May 1917 issue:
Prof. O. A. Olson of the M. E. Department has in the past six months come into especial prominence by patenting three labor saving devices. These three latest additions to the industrial world are a lettering triangle called the “Ames Triangle,” a thread cutter and end holder for hand sewing, and an advertising novelty in the form of a pencil which contains, instead of the lead, a strip of paper three inches wide and twelve inches long. These are not his only inventions, for he now holds nine patents three of which are foreign.
A new design, called the Ames Lettering Instrument, was featured in The Iowa Engineer, February 1920, and advertised in The Iowa Engineer, October 1920 (below).
Manual Training Magazine, September 1921, touted Olson’s drafting device.
Teachers and students of mechanical drawing will be glad to learn of a new and distinctly practical tool for use in lettering.
It is called the Ames Lettering Instrument, having been originated by Prof. O. A. Olson of Ames, Iowa. Among the many devices for lettering, this instrument is unique, being extremely simple in design, light and compact. It consists of a celluloid disc held so as to rotate on a U-shaped retaining ring on which is attached a bar, which serves as a base and straight edge.
A series of holes in the disc enable the user to draw with accuracy and ease the guide lines for three systems of lettering and for letters of any height. By turning the instrument, the bar can be used as an angle enabling one to draw guide lines at either 75 or 68 degrees. Altogether it is a compact, convenient and practical instrument.
A classified advertisement for the Ames Lettering Instrument appeared in Industrial Arts Magazine, December 1922.
The Ames Lettering Instrument was part of a drafting set advertised in American Machinist, December 28, 1922. The description said: “The Ames lettering instrument is a steel frame holding a celluloid disk which may be rotated in it. In the disk are three parallel rows of tapered holes for drawing guide lines for lettering.”
An excerpt from Olson’s entry in American Educators of Norwegian Origin (1931) said:
…Inventor and manufacturer of the Ames Lettering Instrument. “There is no lettering device of which I have any knowledge, that approaches it in simplicity, neatness, accuracy and range of work. It is a satisfaction to know that the instrument is carrying the word ‘Ames’ to all parts of the United States, and to every country of the world where engineering work is being done.” Prof. Warren H. Meeker, Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State College.
A 1945 issue of Plastics and Resins published this article:
Lettering Instrument Before the largest or the smallest airplane, ship, jeep or tank can be built, complicated and detailed diagrams, charts and blueprints must be drawn, and lettering instruments have assumed an importance perhaps greater that they have ever known before.
The Ames Lettering Instrument is the only instrument of this type that provides for the spacing of guide lines for the three different systems of letters most commonly used by commercial draftsmen. It is the only instrument that provides a means of drawing, without adjustment of parts, the two slope lines usually used for notes on drawings. The instrument also provides a means of drawing guide lines for letters of any height from 1/16 to 1-1/2 inches and for the four guide lines required by students learning to letter.
This lettering instrument is made in two parts, the circular center piece revolves by means of a groove in the outside piece permitting simple adjustment. The transparent Lumarith from which it is made allows lines already drawn to be seen clearly through the instrument. Its L-ipse fitting construction guarantees against slipping and subsequent distortion of the letters while the instrument is in use.
The Ames Lettering Instrument is manufactured by the O. A. Olson Manufacturing Company, Ames, Iowa. Lumarith is a product of Celanese Plastics Corporation.Olson’s lettering instrument continued to evolve. In 1951, Olson received a patent for new version of his lettering instrument.
The date of the instrument below has not yet been determined.
Years later, the Ames Lettering Instrument would be known as the Ames Lettering Guide; the one below was purchased in the 1980s.
For decades, the Ames Lettering Guide was an essential tool used for lettering comic strips and comic books. Examples can be found in The DC Comics Guide to Coloring and Lettering Comics (2013) and Drawing Comics (2012).
The Ames Lettering Guide continues to be manufactured, although, no longer in Ames. The Kansas City Business Journal, October 31, 2004, said Olson’s grandson, David Huston, was producing the lettering guides.
(Next post on Monday: 100 Ampersands, Part 1)
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Lettering: 100 Ampersands, Part 1
The Printer and Bookmaker
July 1898
Some Queer Ampersands.
What is the legitimate form of the ampersand? Ringwalt’s American Encyclopaedia of Printing says that it was not adopted in its present form until about 1750. It was originally the Latin et surmounted by a ligature, and the type founders give it to us in Roman in this form (&), and in old-style italic in this form {&). There is a wide difference between the two, and there exists a still wider difference in various display types, while the sign painter takes all sorts of liberties with the figure. The word is a contraction of “and per se and,” signifying “and by itself and.” It is occasionally spelled ampersand, and is found in old books in the form ampusand, amperse-and, ampassyand, amperzed, etc. Having for many years received recognition in primers as a tailend to the alphabet, and being apparently of fixed use in the language, it becomes interesting to discover what forms it becomes interesting to discover what forms it has taken on in arriving at its present shape, if indeed it have any present legitimate shape.
From the Railroad Car Journal we unexpectedly find light on the subject, through a contribution from Warner Bailey, whose connection with the Boston and Maine Railroad has caused him to travel over most of the territory between the States of Maine on the East, Kentucky on the South, and Illinois on the West. During these trips Mr. Bailey made it a pastime to copy all the forms of ampersands he saw painted on railway cars. He discovered no less than one hundred and forty different styles, of which there are reproduced in the accompanying illustration one hundred of the most peculiar. They are certainly worth studying as curiosities, and it is difficult to judge by what mental process some of the more outrageous forms were arrived at by the paint-brush artists.
(Next post on Thursday: Thanksgiving 1905)
July 1898
Some Queer Ampersands.
What is the legitimate form of the ampersand? Ringwalt’s American Encyclopaedia of Printing says that it was not adopted in its present form until about 1750. It was originally the Latin et surmounted by a ligature, and the type founders give it to us in Roman in this form (&), and in old-style italic in this form {&). There is a wide difference between the two, and there exists a still wider difference in various display types, while the sign painter takes all sorts of liberties with the figure. The word is a contraction of “and per se and,” signifying “and by itself and.” It is occasionally spelled ampersand, and is found in old books in the form ampusand, amperse-and, ampassyand, amperzed, etc. Having for many years received recognition in primers as a tailend to the alphabet, and being apparently of fixed use in the language, it becomes interesting to discover what forms it becomes interesting to discover what forms it has taken on in arriving at its present shape, if indeed it have any present legitimate shape.
From the Railroad Car Journal we unexpectedly find light on the subject, through a contribution from Warner Bailey, whose connection with the Boston and Maine Railroad has caused him to travel over most of the territory between the States of Maine on the East, Kentucky on the South, and Illinois on the West. During these trips Mr. Bailey made it a pastime to copy all the forms of ampersands he saw painted on railway cars. He discovered no less than one hundred and forty different styles, of which there are reproduced in the accompanying illustration one hundred of the most peculiar. They are certainly worth studying as curiosities, and it is difficult to judge by what mental process some of the more outrageous forms were arrived at by the paint-brush artists.
(Next post on Thursday: Thanksgiving 1905)
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Lettering: Thanksgiving 1905
The American Printer
November 1905
(Next post on Monday: Pretty in Ink)
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Comics: Pretty in Ink
Pretty in Ink is the latest book by Trina Robbins and available from Fantagraphics Books. My connection to the book is in the acknowledgments which is missing in this first printing. Here’s what Trina wrote:
A heartfelt thank you to Kyle Ryan, Ellen Klages, Shaun Clancy, Jonathan Warm Day Coming, Patrick Ford, Bill McGrath, Christine Chambers; to Caryn Leschen who gave me my title, and Allan Holtz (and his great website, http://strippersguide.blogspot.com), for the priceless material that they provided, and to Alexa Dickman for her detective work that resulted in my finding Fran Hopper, and to Steve Leialoha for putting together the pieces. This would still be a book without them, but it would not be half as good a book.
A special thank you to Alex Jay for his information on Katherine Patterson Rice, and clearing up the Jean Mohr gender mystery; Jean Mohr, who was included in all my past books, is a man!Future printings of Pretty in Ink will have the acknowledgements.
To celebrate the release of the book, here are links to my profiles of women cartoonists on Allan Holtz’s comic strip blog, Stripper’s Guide.
Mildred Burleigh, Ruth Carroll, Bertha Corbett (see Comments), Emma Gordon (see Comments), Jeanne Harris, Violet Moore Higgins (see Comments), Glen Ketchum, Fay King, Melisse, Tarpé Mills, Marjorie Organ, Katharine P. Rice, Eleanor M. Schorer, and Sylvia Sneidman.
(Next post on Monday: Blanche Ostertag)
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Creator: Blanche Ostertag
Blanche Adele Ostertag
born August 27, 1872, St. Louis, Missouri
1880 U.S. Federal Census
June 3, 1880
The census recorded Ostertag as the oldest (seven years old) of two daughters born to Albert and Anne. Her father, a physician, was born in Wurtenburg (Germany) and her mother in Switzerland. They resided in St. Louis on Third Street.
School of Fine Arts
Ostertag, Blanche Adele . . . 2010 N. 9th st.
1890 St. Louis City Directory
Ostertag’s listing said she resided at “2010 1/2 N. 9th”
and was a stenographer at ”Berry & Scruggs.”
August 24, 1892
New York Tribune
May 25, 1893
Annual Exhibition of the Cooper Union Woman’s Art Department
Pen and ink illustration certificate awarded to B. Ostertag (next to last line)
Passport Application
On July 5, 1894, Ostertag applied for a passport, found at Ancestry.com. Her birth was August 27, 1872, St. Louis, Missouri, and described as five feet six-and-a-half inches, blue eyes and blonde hair. She was an artist. The passport was issued July 12 and mailed to 4238A Garfield Avenue, St. Louis.
New York Herald
August 11, 1894
On board the Netherlands American line steamer Spaarndam,
bound for Rotterdam, will be…Miss Blanche Ostertag...
Halsmuseum
November 9, 1894
Ostertag, Blanche A., St Louis USa
Annette Stott
Overlook Press, 1998
The New York Times
April 21, 1895
“Salon of Champ Mars”
Splendid Display by Americans
The American exhibitors...In the drawing section...
Blanche Ostertag of St. Louis, (a pastel Portrait,)...
April 21, 1895
“The Champ de Mars Salon”
see next to last paragraph
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see next to last paragraph
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Passenger List
On September 7, 1896, Ostertag returned to the United States according to a New York passenger list at Ancestry.com. She sailed on the steamship Veendam from Boulogne-sur-Mer, France.
St. Louis Republic
October 15, 1896
“Genius Recognized.”
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“Genius Recognized.”
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November 15, 1896
A recent addition to the colony of artists in Chicago is Miss Blanche Ostertag, who formerly resided in St. Louis, but upon returning from a protracted stay in Europe...
February 20, 1897
...at the Art Institute…Miss Ostertag some Parisian street scenes that have character....
A small exhibition of pastels is in progress at O’Brien’s…Miss Blanche Ostertag, also, shows some work that has style and charm in it...
March 24, 1897
“Arche Club Salon Open”
...Miss Blanche Ostertag exhibits two monotypes...
September 19, 1897
...by Miss Blanch [sic] Ostertag...
St. Louis Republic
November 11, 1897
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The Inter Ocean
December 5, 1897
Another young artist who has come to Chicago within the past year, and who has a studio in the Athenaeum building, is Blanche Ostertag. Her home is in St. Louis, but, although exceptional inducements were offered her to remain there, she preferred to set up her studio in an unknown land and struggle up the ladder without the assistance of family and friends. She has become known in Chicago art fields principally through her monotypes, in the employment of which process she is unique among Chicago artists. Her particular style of painting seems unusually well adapted to this form of art, her lively mind, quick hand, and bold breadth of treatment producing very happy results. When one understands that the impression is made from a plate on which the painting is still wet, one realizes that a great deal depends on the expeditiousness of the artist. As only one impression can be made from a plate, the monotype is as valuable in point of rarity as a painting. Miss Ostertag’s monotypes show considerable originality in the choice of subjects and a great deal of dash and effectiveness in the outlines. The walls of her studio are hung with paintings that she did while studying abroad. Two interiors are interesting in subject and handling; one “The Lacemaker’s of Venice,” is a scene from the same interior that Zorn and Walter Gay have painted so effectively; it is nice in tone and broadly handled. The small canvas depicting a bit of a Parisian boulevard is good in composition and delightfully treated. But perhaps the strongest impression one receives from Miss Ostertag’s work is of her unbounded courage and splendid promise for the future.
December 1897
“B. Ostertag”
“B. Ostertag”
January 10, 1898 to February 22, 1898
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
Blanche Ostertag, 804 Athenaeum Building, Chicago.
336 Boulevard Raspail.
February 20, 1898
Anderson Art Gallery–Works of Miss Blanche Ostertag
February 27, 1898
Miss Blanche Ostertag, whose paintings and monotypes at the Anderson Art Galleries have attracted much attention during the last week, will leave for St. Louis…
March 6, 1898
It is probable that, for a time at least, Chicago will lose one of its cleverest women artists. Miss Blanche Ostertag, whose paintings and monotypes at the Anderson Art galleries have attracted much attention during the last week, will leave for St. Louis at the close of her exhibition, March 7, and later will make a trip through Mexico. Two of her exhibited works have been sold.
March 13, 1898
“Women’s Idea of Manly Beauty”
Ostertag mentioned
Ostertag mentioned
March 20, 1898
…Arthur Dawson and Alice Hayes are soon to leave the city permanently. H. G. Maratta and Roberto Rascovitch left for Italy last Tuesday and Blanche Ostertag and Lucie Hartrath will leave Chicago in a few days for St. Louis and Paris respectively. Evidently the object of the Chicago Art association to induce artists to remain in Chicago has not yet been accomplished….
April 17, 1898
Miss B. Ostertag and another woman who has a studio in the Atheneum Building have caught the auction fever and are preparing to hold a sale of sketches...
August 3, 1898
“Gift of a Chicago Lawyer.”
Ostertag mentioned
The Morning Star
August 4, 1898
“Summer Home for Literati.”
The Morning Star
August 4, 1898
“Summer Home for Literati.”
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December 1898
“Blanche Ostertag”
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“Blanche Ostertag”
December 8, 1898
... of how a schoolroom can be economically decorated was awarded by the committee of the Central Art association to Miss B. Ostertag...
The Fine Arts Building, Chicago, Illinois
Ostertag was a tenant in the late 1890s
Ostertag was a tenant in the late 1890s
Alson J. Smith
Henry Regnery Company, 1953
…In 1890, however, the muse established a permanent beachhead at Michigan Avenue and Van Buren Street. The Fine Arts Building was erected on that site, and immediately became an outpost of culture on the frontier of Megapolis. The Fortnightly Club, a lady’s literary organization centering around the mater familias of Chicago belles-lettres, Anna Morgan, had its headquarters there. John McCutcheon, the cartoonist, had a study in the building, and so did Lorado Taft, Charles Francis Browne, Ralph Fletcher Seymour, Herman MacNeil, Frank and Joe Leyendecker, Blanche Ostertag, Ralph Clarkson and George Ade….
The Art Institute of Chicago
November 15 to December 18, 1898
Ostertag, Miss B.‚ Fine Arts Building, Chicago. Born in St. Louis, Mo. Studied with Lhermitte, Laurens and Collin, Paris. Member Society of Western Artists.
216. Crespuscule.
217. The white halls.
218. The glen.
219. At Eagle’s Nest.
Miss B. Ostertag, Chicago: Oil paintings: “Lace Makers.” “Place St. Michel.” Pastel: “Boy Spooling.” Monotype: Portrait [L. 808.] Received in 1897.
January 1899
In the December issue of Brush and Pencil, by a clumsy error, the article on Miss B. Ostertag was accredited to Miss Helen Underwood. We beg to apologise to her, and to state to our readers that it was not written by her.
February 26, 1899
Blanche Ostertag is represented by a composition, showing small [illegible] of a woman and child walking beneath great forest trees whose crests are touched with sun...
March 1899
R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company, Chicago, which had been sending out monthly calendars during 1898, has changed the plan for this year, issuing a handsome poster calendar covering the first six months of 1899. The design is a very elaborate one, by Miss Ostertag, and is executed in a number of printings. The three female figures, clad in yellow, green, and red, form a most striking poster effect. Each carries some figure or emblem indicative of the first three months of the year, and the symbols covering the other three months are worked into the design to good advantage. The design and execution of the calendar are of the highest grade, and do credit to both the artist and the printers.
April 8, 1899
Chicago. Ill. — For exhibition in the public schools of this city Miss Blanch Ostertag has designed a large poster which represents the reading of the Declaration of Independence before the American army in New York, July 9, 1776. As a work of art it is said to be very strong and direct.
July 2, 1899
Miss B. Ostertag is conducting classes at Lake Bluff.
July 1899
“Brush & Pencil Series of American Color Prints”
September 24, 1899
Miss Blanch Ostertag and Miss Louise Anderson have taken a house on Rush street near Chicago avenue. in which they will arrange their studios working and living rooms. This shows the need in Chicago of a building which should combine studios and living rooms. There are many artists in the city who are obliged to spend a good part of the short hours of winter daylight in street cars and trains.
October 1899
click link then scroll to the first lithograph after page 32
“Wright incorporated the glass mosaic designed fireplace in three of his homes. The first was the Husser Residence (1899)…The wisteria design was consistent in all three homes, and was designed by Blanche Ostertag and executed by Orlando Giannini.” (also see The Decorative Designs of Frank Lloyd Wright)
Edited by Ishbel Gordon Marchioness of Aberdeen
T. Fisher Unwin, 1900
...Blanche Ostertag, of Chicago, has specialised in designing large historical cartoons in flat tones of colour to be printed for schoolroom decoration…
Volume III, 1900_1901
Ostertag, Blanche, 800 Athenaeum Bldg., Chicago. Ill. Born St. Louis, Mo. Pupil of Laurens, L’Hermitte and Delance in Paris. Member S. W. A. Also illustrator.
March 18, 1900
“Lecture by Miss Ostertag.”
Miss B. Ostertag, a Chicago artist and the author of the George Washington poster and other works of a similar character, delivered a lecture on “Child Stories in Color” at the Chicago Kindergarten College in the afternoon. Miss Ostertag exhibited a number of canvases which she proposed as models for reproduction. She suggested that the interest of the people should be aroused to demand the introduction of good colored pictures in the schools and nurseries to waken and educate the artistic sense and feeling in children. The members the association favored the plan to make a beginning by having the picture of the knight exhibited by Miss Ostertag reproduced in color for distribution in schools and nurseries.
1900 U.S. Federal Census
June 5, 1900
Ostertag resided in Manhattan, New York City at 132 East 16th Street. Her birth was recorded as “Jan 1877” and occupation as artist.
December 1900
“Mary Had a Little Lamb. An Old Friend in New Guise”
click link and scroll to page 568
1901
The Art Institute of Chicago
Ostertag member
Ostertag member
January 7, 1901
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Drawings and Posters by Miss B. Ostertag. April 21 to May 27.
Special Exhibition of fifty Drawings and Posters by herself.
June 1901
“When De Angels Call”
click link and scroll to page 558
The Rockford Daily Register-Gazette
July 11, 1901
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July 11, 1901
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Brooklyn Daily Eagle
September 6, 1901
The Washington Times
December 1, 1901
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1901
Ostertag, Blanche, artist; b. St. Louis, Mo. Studied under Laurens, L’Hermltte and Delance, Paris. Exhibited in Champ de Mars Salons, 1895, 1896. Mem. Soc. Western Artists. Address: Chicago.
February 1902
“Latter-day Developments in American Pottery–II”
…the Teco pottery works have had plenty of room and the best of workmen, with unlimited kiln facilities and every appliance necessary for the manufacture. Capable artists have been employed as designers among whom are Fritz Albert, Hugh Garden, Blanche Ostertag, and W. J. Dodd….
February 1902
Illustration and profile
Special Exhibition, February 20-March 2, 1902
Saint Louis Museum of Fine Arts, 1902
February 24, 1902
“Talented Chicago Book Illustrator”
March 29, 1902
...One of the interesting spring books, by the way, in entitled Captain Jinks, and is the presentation. in book form, of Mr. Fitch’s play, Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines. It contains portraits of Miss Ethel Barrymore, who has taken the leading part in it during the two years of its presentation, and various other pictures. The cover is curious, in that it is a reproduction of a drawing, on cloth, by a new process. The cover designer is Miss Blanche Ostertag, who has been doing some unique work.
April 1902
“The Heart of the House”
…may be set off with gold and glass mosaic, like one recently designed by Miss Ostertag for a house in Buena Park…
May 1902
Sketches of Ostertag by Frank Holme
July 1902
reprinted from Brush and Pencil, February 1902
August 1902
“Recent Work of Illustrators—Blanche Ostertag”
“Recent Work of Illustrators—Blanche Ostertag”
August 31, 1902
“Effect of Women’s Intellect on Her Beauty”
Ostertag mentioned
October 1902
The late Max Muller’s “Memories” will be illustrated
by Blanche Ostertag in a sumptuous edition.
November 1902
“Blanche Ostertag, Artist”
November 30, 1902
“Famous Animal Models of Chicago Artists”
Any one who has noted the eager look of the child who is spotting white horses might have seen the same expression on Miss Blanche Ostertag’s face.
November 23, 1902
William Wendt, a painter of Western landscape, and Blanche Ostertag, one of the best known designers ad illustrators of children’s books in the country, formerly of St. Louis, are Chicago artists who will exhibit.
Blanche Ostertag, Chicago:
Painting: “Sans Souci”. Water Color: “Calendar”.
Poem That Every Child Should Know
Mary Burt, Editor
Doubleday, Page & Company, 1902
Decorations by Blanche Ostertag
Max Muller
A.C. McClurg & Company, 1902
Illustrated and decorated by Blanche Ostertag
January 25, 1903
“Hints for Beautiful Woman”
How to Preserve Youthful Appearance
There is a quartet of qualities, says Blanche Ostertag, the artist, which spells the physical charms of the beautiful maiden.
February 18, 1903
“Women Workers in the Field of Publicity” is the chief note in Profitable Advertising for February. Miss Griswold has made a thorough canvass of the highways and byways of publicity and finds about forty women who are ad-writers, advertising artists, publishers, advisors or special representatives. A surprising number of them are prominent in their several fields. There are Miss Minnie Maud Hanff, creator of “Jim Dumps,” Miss Blanche Ostertag, the Chicago poster designer, Miss Helen Mar Shawm advertising manager of James B. Clow & Sons, Chicago...
March 23, 1903
“The Artistic Element in Woman’s Dress.”
Try to Do Without Corsets. Actresses Study Art of Dressing.
by Blanche Ostertag
April 7, 1903
Miss Blanche Ostertag will speak on mural decorations in libraries.
June 22–26, 1903
Miss Blanche Ostertag spoke on “Principles of Decoration as Applied to Libraries and Schools.”
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New York Herald
December 17, 1903
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December 29, 1903 to January 24, 1904
The Art Institute of Chicago
Volume IV, 1903–1904
Ostertag, Blanche (P., I.) 33 Tree Studio Bldg., Chicago. Ill.
Born St. Louis, Mo. Pupil of Laurens, L’Hermitte and Delance in Paris. Member S. W. A.; Chicago S. A.
Cincinnati Museum Association
April 21 to May 27.—Drawings and Posters by Blanch [sic] Ostertag.
Cincinnati Museum Association
April 21 to May 27.—Drawings and Posters by Blanch [sic] Ostertag.
April 7, 1904
“Art Jury Completes Work”
Exhibits for Fine Arts Department to Be Announced Saturday
Artists, architects and sculptors who comprised the jury which selected the exhibits for the Fine Arts Department at the World’s Fair, completed their task yesterday in the Museum of Fine Arts, and the results will be made known Saturday...
James Branch Cabell
Doubleday, Page & Company, 1904
Decorated by Blanche Ostertag
March 19, 1905
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December 1905
“Old English Christmas Carols”
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Volume XIV, 1905
Ostertag, Blanche, 14 Astor St., Chicago, Ill.
Hamilton Wright Mabie
Doubleday, Page & Company, 1905
Illustrated and decorated by Blanche Ostertag
Marion Ames Taggart
Henry Holt & Company, 1905
Frontispiece and decorations by Blanche Ostertag
Volume V, 1905–1906
Ostertag, Blanche, 33 Studio Bldg., Chicago. Ill. (P., I.). Born St. Louis, Mo. Pupil of Laurens, Lhermitte and Delance in Paris.
Hamilton Wright Mabie
Doubleday, Page & Company, 1905
Illustrated and decorated by Blanche Ostertag
Dolores M. Bacon, Editor
Doubleday, Page & Company, 1906
Illustrated and decorated by Blanche Ostertag
Blanche Elizabeth Wade
A.C. McClurg & Company, 1906
Frontispiece and other drawings by Blanche Ostertag
March 1906
American Ceramics ...The Gates potteries are located in a picturesque valley beside a little lake. Aquatic plants are cultivated there and furnish the motifs to the designers. Besides William D. Gates, T. Albert, W. I. Dodd, Blanche Ostertag, Mundie and Dunning are designers for Teco....
November 27, 1906
Cover, frontispiece and additional art by Ostertag in Good Housekeeping, December 1906
July 14, 1907
Among well-known artists who will illustrate Doubleday, Page & Co.’s, 1908 publications are…Blanche Ostertag...
December 1907
Cover: “Christmas at Mount Vernon, 1783” by Blanche Ostertag
Volume 2, 1907
Miss Blanche Ostertag:. the mural painter, summers here.
Volume VI, 1907–1908
Ostertag, Blanche, care Doubleday, Page & Co., New York, N.Y. (P., I.). Born St. Louis, Mo. Pupil of Laurens, Lhermitte and Delance in Paris. Member S. W. A.
The Evening Telegram
March 25, 1908
“From a Poster Painter, Woman Decorates Fifth Avenue Homes”
Miss Ostertag, by Ceaseless Toil, Becomes One of Few Women Mural Artists
The Syracuse Herald
March 29, 1908
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April 19, 1908
The Washington Post
June 7, 1908
“Picturesque Summer Homes of Well-Known American Artists”
…Miss Blanche Ostertag, the mural painter, expects to spend her summer at a new artist colony just established near Philadelphia...
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Lexington Herald
December 27, 1908
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1908
Ostertag, Blanche — 114 W. 72nd St., New York.
271. Figure of Michael from group of “The Everlasting Covenant.”
For hall of Mrs. J.J. Husser, Chicago, Ill.
Ostertag, Miss Blanche, 27 W. 67th st., N.Y.—Art Workers’, N.Y.
Hamilton Wright Mabie and Kate Stephens
Doubleday, Page & Company, 1908
Decorated by Blanche Ostertag
Hamilton Wright Mabie
The Christian House, 1908
Decorated by Blanche Ostertag
Utica-Herald Dispatch
April 17, 1909
Miss Blanche Ostertag, one of the few mural artists in the country, settled in Chicago after several years study in Paris. Beginning with designs for calendars, posters and other small forms of decorative art, she worked up to the broad field of mural paintings. One of her important commissions, just completed, was for the Northwestern Railroad. At the Green Bay terminal she made a aeries of historical panels for the offices. Miss Ostertag has now taken a residence in New York City and is at work on the walls, of a palatial home. Her wall decorations for the New Amsterdam Theater in New York have attracted wide attention to the rare quality of her work.
New Idea Woman’s Magazine
September 1909
Ostertag illustration
1910 U.S. Federal Census
May 6, 1910
Ostertag resided with her mother, a widow, and sister, Rosa, in Manhattan, New York City, at 535 West 156th Street. Ostertag’s occupation was oil painting artist, and Rosa’s was an architect. The 1910 New York city directory said Ostertag and Rosa were artists.
May 1, 1911
August 1911
...Thus for the second time an American girl has smashed the traditions of these exhibitions. The other American, who did this was Miss Blanche Ostertag, who, a few years ago, sent canvases to both salons the same season, the better to hope for an acceptance in the one or the other, and was dismayed to receive a notification from both juries that her wrk had been accepted for both exhibitions. This fact set Parisian art critics agog for the rest of the year.
1912 New York City Directory
Ostertag and her artist sister were listed at the same 1910 directory address.
New York Post
March 12, 1912
“Seen at Spring Academy”
Detail of article; see last sentence in column three
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Volume X, 1913
Ostertag, Blanche, 276 West 71st St., New York, N.Y.
P., I.—Born St. Louis, Mo. Pupil of Collin, Laurens and Constant in Paris. Award: Revell prize, for school room decoration, St. Louis. Work: Mural decorations: “Sailing of the Claremont,” New Amsterdam Theatre, New York; “Old Indian Fort,” N.W.R.R. Station, Green Bay, Wis.; “Everlasting Covenant” (5 panels), “The Songs of David” (3 panels), and mosaics, Husser House, Chicago, Ill.; Illustrations for “Old Songs for Young America.”
Volume XI, 1914
Cincinnati Art Museum
Oct.—12 [1913] paintings and illustrations by Blanche Ostertag.
Volume IV
Thomas William Herringshaw
American Publishers Association, 1914
Ostertag, Blanche, artist, author, was born in St. Louis. Mo. She is a member of the society of western artists; and resides in Chicago, Ill. She is the author of Old Songs for Young Americans.
April 1917
Jean Nicollet Chapter (De Pere, Wis.) celebrated on Oct. 6, 1916 the one hundredth anniversary of the American occupation of Fort Howard….
...At the request of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Company, this picture was painted by Blanch Ostertag, from old drawings of the fort and from descriptions given by early residents of Green Bay. The painting has been pronounced by art critics to be one of the finest examples of poster painting in this country.
Rockford Morning Star
July 7, 1918
Detail of article
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• • •
Regarding Ostertag’s family, her father passed away 1906. A family tree at Ancestry.com said her mother died 1919 in Brooklyn. The 1930 and 1940 censuses recorded her sister in Los Angeles, and the California Death Index said she died in Placer, October 25, 1957.
Did Ostertag marry? In New York, the Evening Telegram, December 24, 1923, printed a classified advertisement which said: “Painting by Blanche Ostertag Potter: Christmas subject. Phone Riverside–6184 for particulars.” Was this Ostertag’s married name or an error by the seller? There was an artist named Blanche Tucker Potter, who was two years older than Ostertag.
• • •
Additional Reading and Sources
Juliann Sivulka
Prometheus Books, 2009
...and B. Ostertag, who applied her ideas on art to advertising posters.
Q2 1981
Gilhooley’s Grande Saloon
…But in fact, this eclectic spot is almost as much of a gallery of art and artifacts as it is a restaurant. Dozens of stylized posters, by such artists as Toulouse-Lautrec, Cheret and Blanche Ostertag, grace the walls….
Summer 2012
“Influences on Frank Lloyd Wright: Blanche Ostertag and Marion Mahony”
by Wilbert R. Hasbrouck
Ellen Mazur Thomson
Yale University Press, 1997
Blanche Ostertag was acclaimed as a young and talented designer at the turn of the century. Little is known of her life or career, only that she was born in St. Louis and studied in Europe before coming to Chicago, where she designed posters and advertisements for leading businesses.
Sydney Robert Jones
The Studio, 1924
...Women artists in this country of good posters have not been found wanting. They have made excellent, though rather fitful contributions, which show the feminine vision combined with strength and vigour in execution. Blanche Ostertag gave particularly dainty designs, and among others equally good are those of Ethel Reed and Florence Lundborg….
ProQuest Links
Chicago Daily Tribune
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Historic Landmark Nomination
Second Presbyterian Church
Chicago, Illinois
from page 46: Blanche Ostertag, a painter, illustrator, muralist and designer from St. Louis, Missouri, worked in Chicago with Giannini and Hilgart, whom she met in Paris when they were students at the Academie Julian and studied under Benjamin Jean-Joseph Constant. With Giannini & Hilgart she designed art-glass windows and the glass mosaics for which she became renowned. Among her best known works was the glass mosaic mantel for Frank Lloyd Wright’s Joseph Husser House (demolished) in Chicago in 1899. At Second Presbyterian Church, she is credited with the design of the graceful grapevine leaded-glass window screens between the narthex and the sanctuary which were executed by Giannini and Hilgart. She was also a prolific illustrator for books, posters and other crafts, and her works were exhibited in numerous museums including the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and the Art Institute of Chicago.
Clara Erskine Clement
Echo Library, 2007
(Next post on Monday: Hand Lettered)
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Lettering: Hand Lettered
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Typography: Typorama
Typorama is an exhibition of Philippe Apeloig’s graphic design work at Les Arts Décoratifs, from November 21, 2013 to March 30, 2014. Design Boom has some excellent photographs of the exhibition.
This past summer I was contacted twice, by representatives of Les Arts Décoratifs, regarding my photograph of the Garden Cafeteria sign, which was posted February 14, 2013. On June 20, Cécile Niesseron requested a scan of the photograph. On July 8, Ameline Thomas asked for my birth date.
While preparing the exhibition catalogue, someone had researched Jewish culture in New York City. The Garden Cafeteria was a meeting-place for some of the Jewish intellectuals, beginning in the 1940s, in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Place Matters has a 23-paragraph article on the history of the Garden Cafeteria. (Click “read more” for the complete article.) The Jewish Museum has a photograph of the cafeteria.
This research was associated with Apeloig’s poster, “Radical Jewish Culture: Scene Musicale, New York”. Below is the description, in French, from the Typorama catalogue, followed by a Google translation. (The English edition is available from Thames & Hudson.)
En 2010, le musée d'Art et d’Historie du Judaisme a présenté l’exposition “Radical Jewish Culture” consacrée au label new-yorkais de musique expérimentale du meme non. Ce groupe de compositeurs et d’interpretes a inventé une musique hybride qui jette un pont entre l’avant-garde et la tradition. Ses influences vont de la musique klezmer a Lou Reed, en passant par Steve Reich.
L’affiche donne l’impression d’être le cliché d’un graffiti du Lower East Side a Manhattan, quartier des premiers émigrants juifs a New York, puis lieu de prédilection des compositeurs et de nombreux artistes. Aujourd’hui transformé, il conserve néanmoins quelques éléments des enseignes des nombreuses boutiques et lieux de culte. Sur beaucoup d’immeubles, les vielles lettres ont été recouvertes de nouveaux éléments des communautés hispaniques et chinoises qui s’y sont installées. Ces murs et ces façades ornés sont devenus les témoignages vivants du passage du temps et des cultures.
Sur l’affiche, on découvre des notations du compositeur John Zorn, le leader du Radical Jewish Culture, qui tiennent a la fois de l’écriture musicale et du graffiti. Des lettres très arrondies conçues comme des pochoirs ont été dessinées pour évoquer la musique expérimentale, rappelant également les enseignes lumineuses d’autrefois. Les noms des artistes, composés en petites capitales jaune flou, sont disposés un peu partout dans le canevas formé par le titre.
In 2010, the Museum of Art and History of Judaism presented the exhibition “Radical Jewish Culture” dedicated to the New York experimental music label of the same name. This group of composers and performers invented a hybrid music that bridges the gap between the avant-garde and tradition. His influences range from klezmer music, Lou Reed, through Steve Reich.
The poster gives the impression of being the picture of Lower East Side graffiti in Manhattan, a neighborhood of the first Jewish immigrants in New York and a favorite place for many composers and artists. Now transformed, it still retains some signs of many shops and places of worship. On many buildings, old letters were covered with new elements of Hispanic and Chinese communities who have settled there. These walls and the ornate façades have become living witnesses to the passage of time and cultures.
On the poster, notations of composer John Zorn, the leader of Radical Jewish Culture, which both songwriting and graffiti are found. Of stencils designed as very rounded letters were designed to evoke experimental music, recalling the old neon signs. Artist names, in small yellow capitals are arranged around the outline formed by the title.
Composer/musician John Zorn was profiled this summer in the New York Times. Zorn’s music label is Tzadik and he wrote about Radical Jewish Culture.
Here are scans of the catalogue cover and pages 202 and 203. The image of the Garden Cafeteria photograph is about the size of a credit card.
(Next post on Wednesday: Peace and Joy)
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Typography: Peace and Joy
My holiday greeting from the early 1990s was based on the candy bar, Almond Joy.
(Next post December 30: 100 Ampersands, Part 2)
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Lettering: 100 Ampersands, Part 2
1. Baltimore & Ohio
The Book of the Royal Blue
May 1904
2. Clark & Co. Jewelers
The Smart Set
October 1901
The American Printer
September 1915
4. Chandler & Price
The American Printer
July 20, 1918
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The American Printer
July 20, 1918
5. Chandler & Price
The Inland Printer
October 1921
The Inland Printer
October 1921
6. National Steel & Copper Plate Co.
The Inland Printer
October 1909
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7. Arts & Decoration
The Inland Printer
October 1909
7. Arts & Decoration
October 1919
8. Geo. H. Benedict & Co.
The Inland Printer
January 1901
The Green Book Magazine
September 1919
10. Geo. H. Benedict & Co.
The Inland Printer
March 1902
11. C.O. Peacock & Co.
Harper’s Bazar
October 1916
The American Printer
June 1900
13. WVP&PCo
(West Virginia Pulp & Paper Company)
The American Printer
August 5, 1920
The Cosmopolitan
October 1900
15. Paul & Wirt Fountain Pen.
The Cosmopolitan
October 1900
16. L. & M. Kahn & Co.
17. Oppenheimer Bros. & Veith
The Jewelers’ Circular
May 1, 1918
18. Rosenow & Company
The Inland Printer
December 1900
19. R. Esterbrook & Co.
The American Stationer and Office Manager
March 31, 1917
20. Fall & Winter
The American Printer
September 1915
21. Bonwit Teller & Co.
Harper’s Bazar
December 1916
22. Bertsch & Cooper
The Printing Art
September 1915
24. Ancient & Modern Rugs
Arts & Decoration
May 1919
25. D & C
The Green Book Magazine
26. C.P. Zacher & Co.
The Inland Printer
October 1900
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October 1900
27. Chute & Butler
The Printing Art
February 1911
28. C.C. Shayne & Co.
Harper’s Bazar
December 1916
29. The Art & Practice of Typography
The American Printer
September 1915
30. B. & A. Machine Works
The Inland Printer
October 1909
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31. Morgan & Wright Tires (black box)
32. Morgan & Wright Tires Are Good Tires
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33. H & R Revolver (black background)
Country Life in America
May 1906
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34. Arts & Decoration
The Inland Printer
October 1909
31. Morgan & Wright Tires (black box)
32. Morgan & Wright Tires Are Good Tires
Life
July 25, 1907
Country Life in America
May 1906
34. Arts & Decoration
December 15, 1919
35. Stein & Blaine
Harper’s Bazar
November 1916
36. Delaware & Hudson R.R.
Country Life in America
June 1906
37. Crane & Co’s
The Inland Printer
December 1909
38. A. Jaeckel & Co.
Life
October 10, 1907
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40. Fall & Winter
Life
October 10, 1907
39. Steinway & Sons
Country Life in America
October 1906
The Printing Art
February 1916
41. W.K. Cowan & Company
The Inland Printer
October 1909
42. Messrs. Klaw & Erlanger
Life
November 7, 1907
Life
April 7, 1904
44. Berkey & Gay Furniture Co.
Country Life in America
June 1906
45. 7 & 9 Warren St
Country Life in America
May 1906
May 1919
47. Chickering & Sons
Life
December 7, 1905
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48. Stable & Kennel
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49. The Printer & Publisher
Life
December 7, 1905
48. Stable & Kennel
Country Life in America
September 1906
The Inland Printer
October 1909
50. Brewster & Co.
51. Broadway & 47th Street
52. Carriages & Automobiles
Life
December 5, 1907
53. Irving & Casson
Arts & Decoration
54. S.W. Tilton & Co
55. & 12 Reade St. New York
The Inland Printer
November 1901
56. The Mason & Hamlin Piano
Country Life in America
May 1906
57. BB&S
The American Printer
August 20, 1918
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58. Barnhart Brothers & Spindler
The Inland Printer
October 1921
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59. American Radiators & Ideal Boilers
The American Printer
August 20, 1918
58. Barnhart Brothers & Spindler
The Inland Printer
October 1921
59. American Radiators & Ideal Boilers
Country Life in America
August 1906
Life
October 2, 1913
61. Dress & Vanity Fair
Life
November 6, 1913
62. Tools & Hardware
Country Life in America
October 1906
63. The Duffner & Kimberly Company
64. W. & J. Sloane
Country Life in America
October 1906
65. Edwin B. Stimpson & Son
New England Stationer and Printer
April 10, 1903
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66. Godfrey & Co.
New England Stationer and Printer
May 11, 1903
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67. Peloouze Scale & Mfg. Co.
New England Stationer and Printer
April 10, 1903
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68. Bausch & Lomb-Zeiss
April 10, 1903
66. Godfrey & Co.
New England Stationer and Printer
May 11, 1903
67. Peloouze Scale & Mfg. Co.
New England Stationer and Printer
April 10, 1903
68. Bausch & Lomb-Zeiss
Country Life in America
July 1906
69. Bausch & Lomb-Zeiss
Country Life in America
June 1906
70. Bausch & Lomb-Zeiss
Country Life in America
August 1906
71. Bausch & Lomb-Zeiss
Country Life in America
September 1906
72. Bausch & Lomb Optical Co.
The Inland Printer
May 1909
73. Case & Press
New England Stationer and Printer
February 10, 1903
74. Union Card & Paper Co.
New England Stationer and Printer
February 10, 1903
75. The Marshall Field & Company Idea
76. Louis Dejonge & Co.
The Inland Printer
December 1921
77. Blomgren Bros & Co.
The Inland Printer
October 1900
78. Blomgren Bros & Co.
The Inland Printer
December 1900
79. BB & Co
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80. Blomgren Bros & Co.
The Inland Printer
November 1901
80. Blomgren Bros & Co.
The Inland Printer
May 1905
81. Blomgren Bros & Co.
The Inland Printer
May 1905
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82. Blomgren Bros & Co.
The Inland Printer
June 1914
83. Palmer & Oliver
The Inland Printer
April 1914
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April 1914
84. Hurst & Hurst Co.
The Printing Art
December 1916
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85. Balch, Price & Co.
December 1916
85. Balch, Price & Co.
Harper’s Bazar
86. The Fuchs & Lang Mfg. Co. (black rule)
The Inland Printer
November 1921
87. A.A. Valentine & Co. Inc.
The Printing Art
December 1916
88. Cups & Saucers
89. Burley & Company
Forest Leaves
March 17, 1921
90. Design & Lay-out
The Printing Art
October 1920
91. Atkinson, Mentzer & Company
The School Arts Magazine
March 1914
92. Love & laughter
The Printing Art
November 1920
93. &.
The Reporter
March 1911
94. S & V Co
The Printing Art
March 1912
95. Attractive Type & Artistic Rules
The Printing Art
March 1912
96. Wild & Stevens
The Printing Art
May 1912
Forest Leaves
January 27, 1921
98. Beatrice & Frank Hines
The Inland Printer
February 1922
99. Gatchel & Manning
New England Stationer and Printer
July 10, 1903
100. Letters & Letter Construction
1910
100 Ampersands, Part 1Wood Type Ampersands
(Next post on Monday: Will Bradley and Ault & Wiborg, 1900)
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Lettering: Will Bradley and Ault and Wiborg, 1900
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| The American Printer and Bookmaker, January 1900 |
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| The Inland Printer, March 1900 |
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| The Inland Printer, April 1900 |
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| The Inland Printer, May 1900 |
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| The Inland Printer, June 1900 |
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| The Inland Printer, July 1900 |
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| The Inland Printer, August 1900 |
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| The Inland Printer, September 1900 |
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| The Inland Printer, October 1900 |
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| The Inland Printer, November 1900 |
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| The Inland Printer, December 1900 |
(Next post in Monday: Elaine Hussey)
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Creator: Elaine Hussey
Mary Elaine Hussey
March or May 1874, New York – May 29, 1957, Kahangi, Uganda
“…Scant information exists on Hussey and no examples of her work are known. She was a member and participant in the first exhibition in 1898 of the Chicago Arts and Crafts Society…The catalogue for the inaugural exhibition of the National Arts Club in New York City states that Hussey contributed a cast and chased silver belt buckle and cast and chased silver garter clasps with and without jewels….”
—Barry Shifman, The Arts & Crafts Metalwork of Janet Payne Bowles (1993)
• • •
1880 U.S. Federal Census
June 5, 1880
Hussey was the oldest of two children born to William and Persis.
They resided in Hollidaysburgh, Pennsylvania at 81 Walnut Street.
Hussey was a student at the Art Institute of Chicago.
Daily Inter Ocean
May 19, 1895
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June 1895
Original Design for Calendar, by Elaine Hussey.
Daily Inter Ocean
June 20, 1896
“Graduates in Art”
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1898
The Art Institute of Chicago
“...Some designs in metal work by Miss Elaine Hussey
were strong and beautiful in color.”
The Hussey household was counted twice. On June 4 they resided in Center Township in Indianapolis, Indiana, at 30 West Drive. Hussey’s birth was recorded as March 1874. The following day their address was 205 North New Jersey, and Hussey’s birth was May 1874. In the census category of “Occupation, Trade or Profession”, it was blank for Hussey.
Hussey put aside the arts and crafts when she married Alfred Stead in 1901.
Hussey put aside the arts and crafts when she married Alfred Stead in 1901.
The Cincinnati Post
February 15, 1901
“Will Soon Wed Alfred Stead”
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The Evening World
February 15, 1901
“W.T. Stead’s Son to Wed Hoosier Girl”
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The Courier and Press
February 17, 1901
“W.T. Stead’s Son Will Marry Beautiful Indiana Girl”
.jpg)
New York Press
February 18, 1901
“Young Stead Is Here to Wed”
New York Herald
February 18, 1901
“Alfred Stead and Miss Hussey Here”
The St. Louis Republic
February 24, 1901
“Shah of Persia Was Responsible for This Anglo-American Alliance”
The Deseret News
March 2, 1901
“The Beautiful American”
The Evening World
March 13, 1901
“Son of W.T. Stead Weds ‘The Beautiful American.’ ”
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March 13, 1901
“Hussey–Stead Nuptials”
March 30, 1901
“...Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Stead will sail to-day from
San Francisco on the Gaelic for Honolulu.”
July 8, 1903
“Spoon Made by King Peter”
October 4, 1903
“…Augustus Koopman, the artist, whose portrait of Mrs. Alfred Stead
(Elaine Hussey of Indianapolis) has just been completed….”
New York Press
November 8, 1903
“International Club for Literary Women Organized in London”
November 22, 1903
“Literary Women of London Are Planning to Organize
an International Club with Backing of Many Millions”
The Critic
February 1905
The Lyceum Club of London
Academy Notes
April 1907
“The Portrait of Mrs. Alfred Stead”
by Augustus B. Koopman
August 1907
“The Expatriates”
The American Colony in London
New York Passenger List
Mary E. Hussey sailed on the steamship Cedric from Liverpool,
England. She arrived in the port of New York October 5, 1907.
England. She arrived in the port of New York October 5, 1907.
November 9, 1909
Mrs. Alfred Stead, Chelsea Court, Chelsea Embankment, London, Eng….
Hussey’s mother passed away December 1, 1910.
1911 England Census
Hussey’s name was recorded as Mary Elaine Kittredge Stead.
July 6, 1911
“Mrs. Alfred Stead of London, England, arrived Tuesday, and is the
guest of her father, William P. Hussey, 1768 Bellefontaine street.”
July 16, 1911
“Mrs. Alfred Stead of London is the guest
of Mrs. F. R. Hussey, 4709 Beacon street.”
The New York Times
September 20, 1911
Aboard the Lusitania bound for Liverpool
The Titanic Sank
April 15, 1912
Hussey’s father-in-law, W.T. Stead, went down with the ship.
July 5, 1915
“Son of W.T. Stead Assassin’s Victim”
Stead survived.
Hussey’s father passed away December 6, 1919.
January 18, 1930
“Hold Funeral on Monday for Frank R. Hussey”
“...Mr. Hussey died early yesterday of a heart attack...
[brother of] Mrs. Alfred Stead of London...”
Hussey’s former husband passed away September 13, 1933.
Born in Darlington 1877 to William Thomas Stead and Emma Lucy Wilson;
married Mary Elaine Hussey and had 3 children; married Mary Elaine Bowles
and had 2 children; passed away in Dresden, Germany.
September 20, 1933
“Mr. Alfred Stead Dies”
“Mr. Alfred Stead Dies”
Maiden Tribute
Grace Eckley
Xlibris Corporation, 2007
“...Alfred Stead, a brilliant polyglot, ever inventive and colorful, characteristically fond of uniforms and medals, served in World War I. He married Mary Elaine Hussey, a wealthy socialite of Indiana, who is remembered in Uganda today as the Countess. Alfred Stead finished the war a colonel and was awarded the CMG in 1919. Who’s Who credits him with earning several additional medals, which were in the possession of his grandson Anthony R. Stead for some time. Alfred was taken ill while traveling and died in a hospital in Dresden in 1933. Honoring Alfred’s preference, the Countess sent his ashes to England....”
“Who’s Who of 1930 incorrectly gives Mary Elaine Stead’s maiden name as Kittredge Bowles...”
Indianapolis Public Library
Some of Stead’s letters mention Hussey
Hussy’s brother, Bryant, passed away in 1934.
Mary Elaine married Alfred William Stead and had 3 children.
She passed away May 29, 1957 in Kahangi Fort Portal, Uganda.
Kahangi Estate
Mama-Kijura
“Kahangi Estate is situated in the foot hills of the Ruwenzori Mountain range in Western Uganda near the District town of Fort Portal….After the Wall Street crash of 1929 and the subsequent collapse of coffee prices the Estate changed hands and became the property of Countess Stead, daughter-in-law to the notable British journalist, and peace activist W.T Stead.”
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Lettering: Lowercase g
The Printing Art
June 1912
Long
Long
The Inland Printer
March 1896
Springfield
The American Stationer
October 1, 1921
Announcing
The Inland Printer
August 1909
printing, Chicago
The Printing Art
February 1913
highest, genuine, printing, Chicago
The International
April 1899
Lighted, Chicago
The Printing Art
August 1912
Adverlogic
Adverlogic
The Printing Art
March 1921
Logical
The Inland Printer
September 1907
g
The Printing Art
July 1921
The Inland Printer
March 1896
Engraving, High, Chicago
The Printing Art
December 1916
Cobbling
Cobbling
The Printing Art
June 1921
The American Printer
July 5, 1918
Printing
Printing
The Printing Art
March 1921
The Pacific Printer
October 1920
The Literary Digest
June 3, 1911
go, going, again
St. Nicholas
March 1919
doggies, walking, looking, dogs, rough, greatly, agree,
long, wagging, doggie, sorrowing, dangerous, Though
The American Printer
January 1901
Designing, Making, Engraving, Chicago
The Printing Art
March 1907
Designers, Engravers
The Green Book Magazine
March 1915
great, Virgin
Men’s Wear
April 24, 1907
Collegian
The Printing Art
August 1909
Heating, Cooking
The Printing Art
July 1907
Manufacturing, Washington
The Inland Printer
October 1894
The Printing Art
April 1921
The Graphic Arts
September 1914
grade, getting
The Printing Art
June 1921
The Industrial Arts Magazine
1922
The Inland Printer
October 1894
Engraving, Engravers
The Saturday Evening Post
March 25, 1916
Covering, Shingles
The Saturday Evening Post
April 1, 1916
signal
The Graphic Arts
August 1913
Together, Advertising, Paragraphic
The Pittsburg Index
December 19, 1903
Photo Engraving
Caricature
8th Edition, 1911
English
Everyday Engineering Magazine
November 1920
Bigger
Life
August 2, 1906
Remington, Autoloading Shotgun
The Furniture Journal
December 1904
gladde, thynges, singing, clinging, bringing, a-ringing
Men’s Wear
April 10, 1907
Prestige
The Printing Art
May 1921
The Inland Printer
October 1900
Chicago
The Inland Printer
October 1895
The Inland Printer
August 1901
August
The Inland Printer
December 1894
Binner Eng Co
The Saturday Evening Post
April 1, 1916
Light Eight
The Saturday Evening Post
April 15, 1916
Housecleaning, Highest, Dangerous, Roughen
Photoplay
July 1920
Starring
The American Printer
March 20, 1918
Breaking
The Printing Art
April 1921
The Saturday Evening Post
March 25, 1916
gum
The Saturday Evening Post
April 14, 1916
Vogue
The American Stationer
October 15, 1921
Selling, Asking
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The Printing Art
Selling, Asking
The Printing Art
August 1921
The American Printer
June 5, 1918
Publishing
The American Printer
October 20, 1921
Plugs
QST
September 1922
Organ
The Printing Art
July 1921
The Saturday Evening Post
March 25, 1916
Springfield
QST
September 1922
Westinghouse
The American Stationer
September 3, 1921
Burroughs, Adding, Bookkeeping, Calculating
QST
October 1922
Broadcasting
The American Printer
November 20, 1921
Springs
The American Printer
December 20, 1921
Announcing, Investigate!, Printing
The American Printer
July 5, 1921
influencing, large
The American Printer
July 5, 1921
give, Advertising
Photoplay
September 1920
Riguad
The American Printer
July 5, 1921
Ledgers, Wedding, Rising
Advertising & Selling
January 6, 1932
The American Printer
July 20, 1921
Packing
The Pacific Printer
September 1920
The Pacific Printer
November 1920
QST
January 1923
Sterling
Moe Thompson’s Melody Shop
1921
Sighing
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The Industrial Arts Magazine
Sighing
The Industrial Arts Magazine
1922
The Printing Art
June 1921
(Next post on Monday: Marvel Super Heroes)
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Lettering: Marvel Super Heroes
Neal Adams’ Continuity Associates produced artwork for Colorforms. In 1983 a “Marvel Super-Heroes Adventure Set” was being prepared. Neal told me that the client wanted bold, sans serif lettering. Originally, there was a hyphen between “Super” and “Heroes”, and “Adventure Set” would have been used below Spider-Man, Hulk and Captain American. Photostats were made of the artwork and lettering, and delivered to Colorforms. I don’t know who did the production for the play set box and booklet. The hyphen was removed, and “Adventure Set” was replaced with “Colorforms Play Set” which was set in type.
Original art scanned and stitched together
Original art
On January 19, Heritage Auctions sold the mechanicals, with a color guide, and proofs, with corrections and changes, for the play set box and booklet.
Logo and heads for box top side panels
Proof with corrections and changes
Detail of printed box top; the box top dimensions are 8 inches wide, 11.375 inches long and 1 inch deep or 20.3 centimeters wide, 28.9 centimeters long, and 2.5 centimeters deep.
Booklet mechanical with color specifications
Proof
A look at “The New Superadventure Colorforms Set”, featuring Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman and Robin, is here.
(Next post January 31: Chinese MAD Magazine)
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Under Cover: Chinese MAD Magazine
Chinese-language MAD Magazine published in Taiwan.
This copy was a freebie at the San Diego Comic Con.
Below are selected pages from the first issue.
Below are selected pages from the first issue.
Poster
Envelope detail
Today is the Lunar New Year 4712, the Year of the Horse.
(Next post February 3: Chinese Oreo Cookies, Part 2)
(Next post February 3: Chinese Oreo Cookies, Part 2)
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Street Scene: Sunset Park, Brooklyn, Year of the Horse Celebration
Year of the Horse celebration in Sunset Park Brooklyn, New York, began 11 o’clock in the morning at 60th Street and 8th Avenue. Two lions danced their way to the stage located at 50th Street, where the Brooklyn Chinese-American Association is located.
Looking west on 8th Avenue as the lions approach
Looking east as the crowd follows the lions
Stage with senior women singing
Stage with children performing
U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer speaking
NYC Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito presents proclamation
NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer speaking
Officials and guests on stage to watch the firecracker display
Firecrackers finish and balloons float away
Lion dancers mount the posts
Lion dancers dismount
Parade begins at 51st Street
Looking west, Verrazano-Narrows Bridge is in the background
Looking east as the crowd disperses
(Tomorrow: Chinese Oreo Cookies, Part 2)
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Typography: Chinese Oreo Cookies, Part 2
Birthday Cake Flavor with 100th Anniversary Tag
Chocolate Creme Filling
Coconut and Green Tea Flavors
Chocolate-Covered
July 2013 Receipt
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