Montgomery Ward Catalogue Type

[Joseph Ruddock]

Hey guys, looking for this lettering from a 1939 dated Montgomery Ward Catalogue. Anyone got any ideas? Thanks

[Riccardo Sartori]

This is lettering, not a typeface.

[Joseph Ruddock]

 One more sample with lowercase.

[Riccardo Sartori]

What I meant, pointing out that it’s lettering and not a typeface, was not for you to edit the description, rather that the samples are all handwritten, not typeset. As such, you will not find a font that can reproduce them exactly.

That said, looking for something similar, I didn’t find much. Perhaps Manofa or Samson/Ashkelon.

[Joseph Ruddock]

Thanks @Riccardo Sartori Are you sure this is handwritten? This is throughout the whole catalogue in most titles and subheadings, would they have spent the time to do that? The type found elsewhere throughout the catalogue is Bodoni (subheads), Futura (body) and Brushscript (special titles).  I could be wrong, but thought I'd question anwyay.

[Riccardo Sartori]

4 hours ago, Joseph Ruddock said:

would they have spent the time to do that?

I can't be 100% sure, of course, but the letters shown in the samples are definitely different from one another.

It could, in theory, due to very poor print quality, but, on the other hand, I don't think that in 1939 a skilled letterer would have taken much more time or money than a skilled typesetter to do the job.

[Joseph Ruddock]

I've just overlayed some of the letters, it indeed supports that this is hand lettering rather than a typeface. Although very similar, there are clear differences.

[Ralf Herrmann]

Independent from the letterforms, there are usually signs for the font—lettering distinction in the overall page layout. Unfortunately we only see small cut-outs. 

[Joseph Ruddock]

@Ralf Herrmann Thanks Ralf, I have attached some larger samples within the layout.