Mitchel Pollard

“One Hundred Alphabets for the Show Card Writer” was published in 1919 to afford sign artists the ability to create signs and show cards in then-contemporary lettering styles.

One such alphabet was big, bold and representative of the Art Nouveau stylings popular in the early part of the 20th Century. Most likely it was applied to store sales and public events that were casual and informal, for its letter forms are free of any constraints.

This design is now available as Fun Time Nouveau JNL in both regular and oblique versions.

The hand lettered title on the cover of the 1914 tune “I Want you to Meet My Mother” served as the inspiration for Nouveau Date JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Ephemera Shoemakers is a bold font with spurred serif & medium contrasted, vintage inspiration with letters in all caps. Traditionally this type of decorative font that emerged in Italy, France & England in the nineteenth century were used in large headlines and posters that were closely related to circus shows, carnival or environments of the Far West American. Perfect for signs, posters, handbills and other large format advertising.

Ephemera Shoemakers Pdf Specimens 

Within the pages of “The Essentials of Lettering” by Thomas E. French and Robert Meiklejohn (circa 1912) is an example for creating a sans serif alphabet and numerals.  

The lesson plate is entitled “Upright Single-Stroke Gothic”; a basic monoline font most useful for architectural and drafting plans because of its easy-to-read properties.

This type design is now available as Drafting Class JNL, in both regular and oblique versions.

Ghost Sign JNL is a spurred serif type design based on the faded lettering of an antique brick wall sign for Homer Hardware [located in Homer, NY] and is available in both regular and oblique versions.

From Wikipedia:

“A ghost sign is an old hand-painted advertising sign that has been preserved on a building for an extended period of time. The sign may be kept for its nostalgic appeal, or simply indifference by the owner.

Ghost signs are found across the world with the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Canada having many surviving examples. Ghost signs are also called fading ads or brickads. In many cases these are advertisements painted on brick that remained over time. Old painted advertisements are occasionally discovered upon demolition of later-built adjoining structures. Throughout rural areas, old barn advertisements continue to promote defunct brands and quaint roadside attractions.

Many ghost signs from the 1890s to 1960s are still visible. Such signs were most commonly used in the decades before the Great Depression.

Ghost signs were originally painted with oil-based house paints. The paint that has survived the test of time most likely contains lead, which keeps it strongly adhered to the masonry surface. Ghost signs were often preserved through repainting the entire sign since the colors often fade over time. When ownership changed, a new sign would be painted over the old one.”

A thin Roman typeface with slab serifs shown in various editions of the American Type Founders’ Specimen Book as either Lining Antique or Lining Central Antique was the model for Specimen Book JNL which is available in both regular and oblique versions.

This is the 1700th design released by Jeff Levine Fonts since its inception in January, 2006 and was named Specimen Book JNL to celebrate the era when metal type and letterpress were the modern technology of their time.

RMU Trifels is a revival of Heinrich Wieynck’s great design which was released by Bauer in 1905. This beautiful Art Nouveau font comes with a long s and a historical form of the letter H.

Border and adorning elements were added which you can reach by typing [alt] + P and [alt] + p.