Browsing online auctions and other webs sites often unearths wonderful examples of lettering from the past. A perfect example is Ritz Stencil JNL, modeled after a page from a 1930s-era lettering book. Although this font has similar characteristics to other better-known designs, there are enough unique differences to let it stand on its own as a great example of the Art Deco era.

The type design which inspired Stencil Maker JNL comes from a 1920s-era machine used in movie theaters of the day. It rendered tiny punched out letters (some characters solid and some in stencil form), enabling the user to make projection slides of important messages or general notices for the theater audience to read.

Czech Stencil JNL was modeled from examples of a 1930s-era typeface from Czechoslovokia called "Patrona Grotesk" as seen in the Steven Heller-Louise Fili book "Stencil Type" (published by Thames and Hudson).

Basic Stencil JNL was inspired by a lettering stencil sold by Dymo around 1968 that featured a sans serif design with rounded corners and an overall square look to the characters. This bold stencil design is available in both regular and oblique versions.

A group of unique metal plates with stencil initials cut into them was spotted while browsing through online auctions for source material. What made these items even more interesting was how some of the stencil letters had been sectionally divided - not vertically or horizontally as in most stencils, but lines cut at angles. This is the basis for Steel Stencil JNL and Steel Stencil Oblique JNL.

Malaguena Stencil JNL was derived from hand lettering found on an Art Deco-era piece of vintage sheet music for this familiar tune. According to Wikipedia: “Malagueña is the feminine form of the Spanish language adjective malagueño/ malagueña, ‘pertaining to Málaga’, a Spanish port city.” Additionally: "Malagueña", is a song by Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona; written in 1928 it was originally the sixth movement of Lecuona's Suite Andalucia, to which he added lyrics in Spanish. The song has since become a popular, jazz, marching band, and drum corps standard and has been provided with lyrics in several languages.

Favorite Stencil JNL is inspired by and modeled after the classic hot metal typeface "Ludlow Stencil"; a design that enjoyed popularity around the 1950s and is not to be confused with Ludlow's similarly-named "Stencil" which was released in 1937. Available in both regular and oblique versions.

A butterfly, plants, animals, borders, embellishments, a center piece and corner pieces make up this assortment of charming stencil designs re-drawn from vintage sources for Antique Stencils JNL.

An ad spotted in a 1964 issue of Billboard magazine with the words “STAND BACK…” introduced the first record album from then-new stand-up comedian Bill Cosby. The lettering of those two words was in a stencil sans serif design that was a perfect candidate for developing into a digital font. The end result is Advertising Stencil JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Pretty handwriting in an upright, classic feminine style. Nice and neat.

A set of slab serif framed capitals is displayed in the 1906 edition of the Keystone Type Foundry specimen book as “John Alden Initials”. Digitally redrawn as Keyden Drop Caps JNL, regular and reverse versions are available in one font file. Upper case keys contain the regular version, lower case keys have the reverse version. Blanks frames for each are on the parenthesis keys. The font’s name is a hybrid of both ‘Keystone’ and ‘Alden’. These vintage letters can easily be used as drop caps, monogram initials or for short novelty titles or headlines. Choose from either regular or oblique for your next print project.

From the pages of the 1939 French lettering book “Modèles de lettres modernes par Georges Léculier” (“Models of Modern Lettering”) comes an attractive and unusual set of initial drop caps made from square letters adorned with multiple vertical lines. Originally designed as white letters on black backgrounds, an additional set with black letters on white backgrounds comprise Deco Drop Caps JNL; available in both regular and oblique versions.