Multiple fonts ID's please

esteinberg14 August 2006 · 18:16

These 2 menus appeared circa 1946 purporting to have been made in 1834. I have identified the typeface of "494 Pearl Street" and the "greater than" and "lesser than" symbols at the end of the word "DELMONICO" as being Kitcat patented April 10, 1883 (already a clue that these menus are frauds).

However, after searching Caslon, Garamond, Ionic, Cheltenham, and other fonts, I cannot identify the other typefaces used in these menus. I suspect they were commonly around in a print shop, and were chosen because they looked "old."

I also suspect that the “DELMONICO” name was composed of different fonts. The “M” in each menu is different. The “N” is pointed and goes below the line. The “O” is also different in each menu. The “1834” looks to me like it was supposed to be a woodcut, but I have no idea. I cannot locate a font with those numerals.

I am a complete neophyte in the area of font identification. This research is for an academic talk dealing with culinary history.

I have linked to the images because they are large. You can click on them to enlarge them even more. These are photocopies I have from archives, so the quality is not that great. Apologies in advance.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Menu1 Menu2

In the event the links do not work, kindly access the files at: http://www.windycitybooks.com/menu/

Michael Yanega

I'm afraid you are outside the time frame that most of us have any information for. 'Menu1' looks largely hand-lettered to me, and Menu 2 is the only one that says (to me) that it was made in 1834. I think the 1834 in Menu 1 may just be the date that Delmonicos was established. You know how businesses like to tell how how long they have been around.

The small lettering on Menu2 is interesting because it is so beat up and misshapen. I notice that a 'g' was used for an 'a' in 'Sausages' or I would have suggested that the small lettering was hand-printed too. Maybe it says the printer (Smith & Handford) used really old, beat up, overused type, which seems plausible.

Some of the larger lettering may have been wood type. You said you identified the PEARL STREET type. Can you tell us what it was?

There must be books about early 19th Century printing in America, but I sure don't have any of them, so I guess that's all I can contribute. Sorry.

- Mike Yanega

esteinberg

The typeface used to print "494 Pearl Street" and the little doo-dads at the end of Menu 2's "Delmonico's" is MacKellar, Smiths and Jordan's "Kitcat" series font, patented April 10, 1883, US patent #13, 849. I am sitting here with 3 books on typefaces: Encyclopedia of Type Faces, Printing Types, and the 1896 American Type Founders Co. sample book. My eyes are crossing.

The type fonts were not handprinted, nor were they hand-run. These menus were "mocked up" circa 1946. They were given out all over the East coast as "marketing" thingies but the menus over time were separated from the "postcards" that came with them, and Menu 2 has attained the status as a "real" menu from 1834.

The type faces in both are similar BUT not identical. For example, in Menu 1, the "Regular Dinner" looks like ATF Garamond, while in Menu 2, it resembles Linotype Old Style Regular. In Menu 1, the "RESTAURANT" looks like ATF Bodoni, while in Menu 2, it looks like ATF Garamond Roman. These are just fairly reasonable guess on my part because I don't know beans about type faces - just what I'm seeing in books.

Am desperately trying to identify the numerals that compose "1834." The "3" looks like a medical number in the ATF book, but I cannot locate a type face for these with certainty.

Thanks again for trying to help. I truly appreciate it!

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