This toro rests on a capstan from the American chipper show VIKING which was wrecked on this island on June 4, 1863 being bound for San Francisco. U.A.A. from Hong Kong China. Through the intervention of the local authorities and the hospitality of the islanders, the lives of the 25 crew and 460 Chinese passengers were saved. In recognition of the many acts of friendship, this plaque was sponsored by the Old Dartmouth Historical Society and Whaling Museum in New Bedford, MA.

Courtesy of sapphire, all rights reserved
Collection: Downtown, USA
Location: New Bedford, Massachusetts,
Time Period: 1960's
Type style: decorative and serif
Materials and methods: stone
Purpose: decoration and information

Help Build Our Collections

Throughout history lettering and type have been used on buildings and signs, surrounding us with visible words -- messages aimed at the common man. These signs reflect the character and activities of a neighborhood. Advertising on buildings give insight into how people lived: the products they used, the popular vocabulary of their time. Variations in materials and form reveal each generation's fascination with new technology.

But lettering and type in signage and on buildings get lost over time. Change of building use, the elements, and restoration decisions have led to the disappearance of decades of type history—and by extension a valuable component of the histories of architecture, advertising, industry, and society.

Submit an image to any of our collections. Tell us as much as you can about the lettering, materials, time period and location of the signs. If you do not know specific information, that's OK! Tell us as much as you can, and our editors will update unknown information.

Help document this ubiquitous, yet ephemeral history of lettering and type.

A community-based image database, dedicated to collecting, documenting, and preserving images of type and lettering on old signs and buildings in the United States.

Archive for November, 2010

Web Type.

Tuesday, November 16th, 2010

If you’ve read my previous posts, you’ve figured out I love how type and letters live in our environment. For many of us, our contemporary environment includes the digital realm.

Developments in web fonts has lead me away from the city streets (for now) and back into my HTML/CSS files. There is just too much going on not to immerse myself in web type.

I’ll return to this blog as soon as I can. If all goes well, I’ll be posting again in Spring 2012. In the meantime, visit my other work at TypographicWebDesign and GoodWebFonts.

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