Climax Coffee can
Contributed by Stephen Coles
on Apr 23rd, 2016. Artwork published in
.
The front of this can label is all lettering, decorated in typical Victorian “artistic printing” style. The back side uses Italic Gothic, an early humanist-style cursive sans serif.
“ONE DOLLAR” is likely set in one of the generic condensed gothics of the time. Gothic Condensed No. 7, in an 1887 catalog from San Francisco-based Palmer & Rey, is a good match.
This examples comes from a collection of original trademark filings at the California State Archives, recently digitized through a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).
3 Comments on “Climax Coffee can”
This is striking to me, as it shows the crucial transitional state between calligraphic traces and abandonment of the hand. The small /w and /p look almost like mutilated Caslons.
Yes, you rarely see those elements in an italic sans serif until the rise of the Humanist Sans. Echoes: Goudy Sans Italic (cursive forms) and Gill Sans (p).