Early Sign Painting

Good selection of old street photography of Sign Painting found on Messynessy.

Early graphic design, 1900s

Getting ready to draw a new ad for the local butcher shop. Here is a couple of things that caught my eye to redraw, from Vintage ad Browser.

Type Hunter

Photos from Type Hunter on flickr.

1890's handwriting

Old handwriting, found on flickr.

Ephemera: 1900's printing trades typography

Getting ready for a large chalk panel sign, I typically start with a little source material from Sheaff Ephemera. Enjoy.

Sanborn Insurance Map Typography

I post a collection of these about once a year, but the Sanborn insurance maps for north american cities are just that good. typography from the 1890's to 1920's, every city had one, go look for yours at your local library reference desk.

Botany Mills

Below is all imagery I could find throughout the internet on a clothing company making shirts, slacks, and ties, Botany Mills. Opened 1887 in Passaic, New Jersey, and site of the 1926 Passaic Textile Strike along with other woolen mills in the area. The company barely survived the great depression, then was bought in 1954 by Daroff and Sons. I can't find any information about the advertising company associated, but the work is great. The company also hired Otto Messmer (originator of Felix the cat) to make animated TV commercials with the Botany Lamb character. From what I have found it looks to be the very first American animated commercial advertisement in 1941 broadcast to less that 5000 television sets. If anyone has more information, I left a few links in the comments section, please add to it.

1900's Storefront Signage

Doing some research for a project, I came across a lot of nice looking vintage storefront window displays, more on Google, just look up storefront signage and a year.