Interrobang, Part 2: Jack Lipton, Designer and Art Director

On June 15, 1913, twenty-one-year-old Mark Lipton returned from a visit to New York City. He was aboard the ship Caronia when it docked in Liverpool, England. His was a composer in the printing industry. Seven weeks later, Mark was sailing on the same ship when it arrived in New York on August 10, 1913. The manifest said compositor was his occupation.

Mark and Sadie Grasshandler married on October 14, 1914 in Brooklyn. He was born in Manchester, England and resided at 23 Jefferson Street, Brooklyn. His wife’s first name was misspelled Badie on the front of the certificate. On the back her signature was Sadie.

The 1915 New York state census counted the couple in Manhattan at 402–406 East 78th Street. Sadie was Hungarian. Almost eleven weeks later, their son, Harvey, was born on August 20, 1915.

Mark signed his World War I draft card on June 5, 1917. His Bronx address was 636 Wales Avenue. Mark commuted to White Plains where his employer, book publisher H. W. Wilson Company, was headquartered.

Mark and Sadie have not yet been found in the 1920 census which was enumerated starting January 1. Later that month, Jack was born on January 22 in Manhattan according to the New York, New York Birth Index at Ancestry.com.

In the 1925 New York state census, the Liptons were Manhattan residents at 1280 Third Avenue. The 1930 census said the family was in the Bronx on the 2100 block of Bronx Park East. Jack’s father was a proofreader in the advertising industry.

In 1940 Jack lived with his parents in the Bronx at 2125 Holland Avenue. He was a sales clerk at a retail fruit stand. The census said he completed his fourth year of high school and earned $500 in 1939.

Jack signed his draft card on July 1, 1941. He had the same address which was updated later. Jack also had a mailing address, 423 Irving Street NW, Washington, DC, where he was a senior laborer at the Treasury Department’s Bureau of Engraving. Jack’s description was five feet four inches, 145 pounds, blue eyes and brown hair.

Jack’s veteran’s file said he enlisted on January 6, 1942 and discharged on December 23, 1945. Where he served is not known.

At some point, Jack married Dorothy. The 1950 census counted them and their three-year-old son, Richard, in Miami, Florida at 752 Euclid Avenue. Jack worked at an advertising agency. His parents also lived in Miami at 338 NW 39th Street.

The Directory of Advertising Agency Personnel 1951 listed Jack as art director at Blackstone Advertising, Inc. in New York. He held the same title in the Television Age Yearbooks for 1956, 1957, and 1958.

By the early 1960s, Jack was art director at Martin K. Speckter Associates. Inc. which was founded in June 1956. Speckter, editor of Type Talks, wrote about creating the interrobang in the March–April 1962 issue. Jack designed three versions.

 

Image from Shady Characters

 

The interrobang was included in American Type Founders Co.’s 1967 typeface, Americana, which was drawn by Richard Isbell. In 1968, an interrobang was rendered by Kenneth Wright for the Remington Rand Model 25 electric typewriter.

Later on, Jack was art director at Duncan-Brooks Inc., a Garden City, Long Island, New York advertising agency. He was listed in the 1968 Standard Directory of Advertising Agencies. The agency’s president, Donald W. Dragon, was in charge of a 1970 architectural contest. He turned to Jack to design the award.

Newsday, June 5, 1970

Jack passed away on January 2, 1988 and laid to rest at Mount Hebron Cemetery.


Further Reading
You Call that a Punctuation Mark?! The Interrobang Celebrates its 50th Birthday
Luc Devroye, Richard Isbell

 

Related Post
Interrobang, Part 1, Martin K. Speckter, Art Director


(Next post on Monday: Interrobang, Part 3, Larry Ottino)