In a career spanning the early 1900s through 1940, George M. Cohan wrote and produced over 50 plays, 300 songs and was also an actor, singer and dancer. Many of his works honored his Irish roots, and the cover of one piece of sheet music called “The Irish American” (1905) had its title hand lettered in a condensed Art Nouveau type design with tiny spurred serifs. This is now available digitally as Dress Rehearsal JNL, in both regular and oblique versions.

While this bold, chamfered typeface may look like a sports font, it actually came from the opening credits for the 1955 Western film “The Man from Bitter Ridge”. Game Rules JNL is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Metalet Modern JNL was based on the letters found within the Metalet Movie Titling Set manufactured by the Modern Display Advertising Company of Hollywood, California circa the 1940s. Each stamped metal letter would be affixed to the background surface via the use of miniature magnets. Once in place, titles for home movies or slides could be photographed, the letters then returned to their storage area in their box. The character shapes show unusual stroke movement, which means the original models used for these letters were most likely hand-drawn.

As Word War I raged on during 1917, a large number of songs were written as morale builders for both the soldiers leaving for overseas service as well as their friends, family and loved ones. One such song, "Send Me Away with A Smile" has its title hand lettered in a simple, yet somewhat stylized sans serif design that was so much a part of the Art Nouveau style of that era. Simply Nouveau JNL captures and preserves that design within a digital typeface; available in both regular and oblique versions.

The hand lettered title on the sheet music for 1917's "If They'd Never Take You from Me" was the basis for the Art Nouveau sans design of Nouveau Romance JNL. This elegant sans serif is available in both regular and oblique versions.

The sans serif type style for the specialty font Nameplate JNL was given a serif treatment and is now Hotel District JNL complete with a full character set. Originally inspired by two Art Deco-era metal door signs saying "Men" and "Ladies", the thin lettering lends itself well to period pieces as well as contemporary design work.

The Federal Art Project division of the WPA (Works Progress Administration) employed numerous artists, musicians, actors and other creative sorts in a effort to help many survive the Great Depression of the 1930s. One of the posters created by this project was for a "Card Party and Barter Benefit" with proceeds going toward the Nassau Art Teachers Benefit Fund - taking place at the Coca-Cola plant in Rockville Centre, New York. East Village JNL was derived from this poster, and is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Front Row JNL is an all-caps reinterpretation of Morris Fuller Benton's 1937 type design "Empire", and is available in both regular and oblique versions. As is often the case when a digital type font is based on a few letter examples found on a printed sample [in this case, the sheet music of the 1946 Guy Lombardo hit "What More Can I Ask For"], the missing characters were drawn from scratch.

One of the most unusual sets of antique stencils spotted for sale online comprises a set of twenty-four classic logos of early 20th Century automobile companies. For whatever purpose that is now lost to time, these stencils represented the logos of many of America's finest auto manufacturers; most now just historical memories. The logos were painstakingly redrawn, maintaining the distinctive look of the hand made cutting, although it was an exacting process - some of the images were taken at an angle, and a bit of artistic license had to be used as a compensatory factor. It is to be noted that any and all of the logos presented in this font are the intellectual property of the companies, successors or assignees that may still hold the rights to these symbols. No endorsements by such corporate entities are either expressed or implied. Additionally, it is advised that any use of these logos be restricted to historical or hobby purposes, and they should not be used in a way that would construe any authorized reproduction of the logos in a commercial fashion.

Hey, what the hey! You'll have to look twice at this unusual typeface from Jeff Levine. Utilizing the sans serif lettering found in Trade Printer JNL, this novelty font combines two staggered outline versions that are blended together to give a double-image effect. This works best at large point sizes and with minimum word count. Use it for attention-getting phrases such as "You'll See Double" or "You Won't Believe Your Eyes" (or similar ad copy).

The hand lettered show card brush lettering in the trailer for the 1960 musical comedy “Bells are Ringing” (starring Dean Martin and Judy Holliday) inspired Musical Comedy JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions.

In January of 2006, Jeff Levine fonts debuted with ten releases. Many of those first fonts were based on vintage lettering stencils, which were the "school years" catalyst for Jeff's interest in lettering and type design. Eight years later, his collection of fonts has become a giant catalog of display type ranging from Wood Type revivals to Art Nouveau, Art Deco to stencil, reinterpretations of old favorites, experimental fonts, dingbat fonts and typefaces reflecting a particular decade's styles of cultural popularity. Designs from old lettering books, type catalogs and advertising have also been fodder for many alphabets not previously available in a digital format. Along the way, many unusual lettering sources were also mined for type ideas. Vintage packaging, hand-lettered signage, sign making kits, rubber stamp type, water applied decals and at times just a singular letter example inspired many of the releases within this collection. It was a source of pride for Jeff Levine Fonts to reach 500 releases and a determined goal to grow the type library as far as possible. With this in mind, February 2014 brings forth many new releases. This one in particular, Ornery Polecat JNL, is the 800th typeface release from Jeff.

The pen lettered opening credits for the 1937 film “The Awful Truth” inspired Date Book JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions. A hybrid of both Art Nouveau and Art Deco influences, this casual type design is perfect for any project that wants to convey its message in a pleasant, informal manner.

Don’t let the name “Trippy Hippie JNL” fool you. Although the type design fits well with the 1960s-70s hippie movement and the “love generation”, the design is actually straight out of a page from a vintage German lettering textbook entitled “50 Alphabete fur Technikur und Fachschulen” (loosely translated to “50 Alphabets for Technicians and Specialized Schools”). The novelty, free form shapes and stroke weights of this hand lettered alphabet fits well in creating 1920s period pieces or for designing a retro-inspired rock and roll concert poster. Trippy Hippie JNL is available in both regular and oblique versions.

The hand lettered sans serif title on the sheet music for the 1930s song "I'm Alone Because I Love You" was the inspiration for Radio Singer JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Daily Tabloid JNL was redrawn from a set of wood type that was popularly used for newspaper headlines, posters, broadsides and the like.

Punch Tape JNL emulates the old-style pin-punched paper tapes that were used in everything from ticker tapes to moving electronic signage to early digital typesetting equipment. Pin punch characters were also used in the early days of banking as a secure way of canceling a check so that it was rendered useless if re-submitted. In this version, the "dots" are square rather than round.

A typewriter gives you clean, crisp text from its keys, but Type Wronger JNL does anything but this. A distressed typewriter font, this font emits a rough, crude imprint as if the original had been photocopied, copied from that copy and re-copied until the original message had degenerated.

Rustic Setting JNL is the solidified version of Rustic Stencil JNL. Originally modeled from lettering on the cover a children's book, the solid version of this Western-inspired typeface is reminiscent of the classic wood types of the era.

The 1930s French publication L'Art du Tracé Rationnel de la Lettre was a treasure trove of font revival ideas from the Art Deco era. One example featured a serif typeface with a number of stylized characters. This is now available as French Bistro JNL, in both regular and oblique versions.

A 1927 travel poster for visiting what was then Palestine and Near East was hand lettered in an early Art Deco thick-and-thin type face. The lettering was redrawn digitally, and is now available as the aptly-named Travel Poster JNL, in both regular and oblique versions.

“9 Garcons...Un Cœur” (“9 Boys...One Heart”) is a 1948 French musical starring Edith Piaf. The hand lettered credits for the film are done in a condensed Art Deco sans alphabet, now available digitally as Stage Show JNL in both regular and oblique versions.

The 1938 sheet music for "(The Dwarves Marching Song) Heigh-Ho" from Walt Disney's "Snow White" had the part of the title in parenthesis hand lettered with a round nib ink pen. This lettering became the inspiration for Pen Work JNL, and is available in both regular and oblique versions.

While browsing through a Dan Solo type reference book, Jeff Levine fell in love with the multiline stylings of one particular typeface, then sat down and re-drew from scratch his own interpretation of the design. Jeff's version is called Art Lover JNL - offering kudos to art in general, the Art Deco movement and (of course) type design.

Metalform Gothic JNL is based on examples of stamped metal numbers used for house identification and similar purposes. The lettering is square in shape with rounded corners, perfect for text that needs to emit authoritarian messages or instructions.

Tooned Out JNL gives a serif treatment to the cartoon-inspired lettering of Toon-In JNL. Both fonts are great for any casual or fun messages or themes.

Trade Journal JNL and its oblique counterpart are derived from a classic grotesk sans face from the 1800s. Despite the 'Grotesk' style name, the font design is actually quite pleasing to the eye and a nice alternative to many of the sterile sans serif faces of today.

There was a time in this country when many young people studied a trade via a correspondence course through the mail. While this method still exists, it's now more common to find students taking online classes. From an early-1960s course in sign painting comes Sign Merchant JNL, a classic brush stroke type design popularized on show cards and posters.

Western Adventure JNL is based on a classic lettering stencil of the 1950s. Part of a growing series of such stencil fonts by Jeff Levine, it's a perfect complement to Buckdance JNL.

The lettering found on an 1878 Salt Lake City advertisement for the Forepaugh’s Circus inspired Faux Pas JNL, which is a bit of a pun on the circus’ name and also a commentary on how this unusual lettering style seems to break all of the rules on stroke width and balance. According to Wikipedia: “Adam John Forepaugh (February 28, 1831 - January 22, 1890) was an American entrepreneur, businessman, and circus owner. Forepaugh owned and operated a circus from 1865 through 1890 under various names including Forepaugh's Circus, The Great Forepaugh Show, The Adam Forepaugh Circus, and Forepaugh & The Wild West. In 1889, Forepaugh sold his circus acts to James Anthony Bailey and James E. Cooper and he sold his railroad cars to the Ringling Brothers. The Ringlings used the equipment to transform their circus from a small animal-powered production to a huge rail-powered behemoth, which later purchased the Barnum & Bailey Circus. Thus, in liquidating his circus assets, he indirectly contributed to the demise of his arch-rival.” Faux Pas JNL is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Although the early 1900s through the 1920s seemed to be the "Golden Age" of ridiculously long novelty song titles, it appears that even the decade of the 1940s had its fair share as well. Song Merchant JNL was modeled from the hand lettered [but exhausting] title of the sheet music for "Princess Poo-Poo-Ly Has Plenty Pa-Pa-Ya (and she Loves to Give it Away)". Despite the obvious double-entendre inferences of the title, the square block letters with rounded corners make for a useful headline font (even if the source material it was drawn from is quite forgettable). Available in regular and oblique versions.

Rushing Pass JNL is the italicized companion font to Forward Passed JNL and Return Pass JNL. This package includes a bonus solid version of the font (Forward Passed Black JNL) at no extra charge.

A brass stencil hand cut to mark the tops of oil drums yielded the lettering for Stencil Plate JNL. The font emulates the retro feel of the unique letter forms found in the original antique design.

Musical Prelude JNL is a thin Art Deco typeface with some interesting character shapes, and was inspired by the hand lettering on the cover of the 1933 sheet music for "Blue Prelude" by Gordon Jenkins and Joe Bishop. It is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Lecture Hall JNL is a reworking of Dance Hall JNL. By removing the Art Deco flairs and realigning the horizontal strokes in order to create a more traditional design, the font now takes on the look of a classic headline face.

The hand-lettered name of the "Junior Showcard Printer" (a 1930s-era rubber stamp printing set manufactured by the Superior Marking Equipment Company of Chicago) served as the prototype for Junior Printer JNL.

Common Stencil JNL takes a vintage lettering stencil from the 1980s with imperfectly bent cutting dies [which unintentionally gave the characters a distressed or "grunge" look] and recreates it in a digital form. The design is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Printers Pictures JNL is another volume of vintage letterpress stock cuts, cartoons, embellishments and what-nots for those who enjoy these charming illustrations.

The hand lettered song title on the sheet music for 1918’s ‘N’ Everything (from the Al Jolson show “Sinbad”) was the inspiration and model for Westfield Nouveau JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Sheet music for the song "My Ideal" (from the 1930 Paramount picture "Playboy of Paris" starring Maurice Chevalier) had the name of the movie hand lettered in an Art Deco, Broadway-influenced type design. This became the inspiration for Parisian Playboy JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions.