Typophile

1962 Reg Harris bicycle decal

crispin-jones

Hi,

I am restoring an old Reg Harris bicycle and am recreating the transfers. I’ve artworked most of them now, but am having problems identifying the fonts (have spent rather too long looking and can’t really see the wood for the tree...)

The first font is for the model name (Record in my case, but I believe it’s the same as this one):

The second font is from the crest on the seat tube (“Reg Harris Cycles Ltd England”), this one is driving me particularly crazy because I’m sure it’s obvious, but I can’t seem to get it (it’s a basic grotesk of some sort...)

Many thanks in advance for all help,

Crispin Jones

The gold outline makes Professional tough to decipher, but Reg Harris (Cycles) Ltd. is done in the style of Edward Johnston’s 1916 alphabet for the London Underground, and England looks like the same thing, but slightly bolder and more condensed.

Thanks for the suggestion, but I don’t think Johnston is right - the aperture on the “R” is too small on Johnston...

Captured from web.archive.org on 9 Nov 2009. view this capture