Tenth Letter of the Alphabet: 2026

Monday, October 19, 2026

Typography: The Typosium, Los Angeles, 1925

On April 14, 1925, Laurie J. Quinby filed a trademark application for The Typosium. It appeared in the Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office, July 7, 1925

Typosium excerpts and quotes in

American Stationer and Office Manager, May 9, 1925
Visalia Morning Delta (California), June 24, 1925 and June 28, 1925
California Highways, August 1925
The Rustler (King City, California), September 4, 1925
Merced Express (California), October 1, 1926
The Inland Printer, July 1927
Sacramento Daily Union (California), February 2, 1928

A Few Details About Laurie John Quinby

Laurie John Quinby was born on December 8, 1868 in Covington, Kentucky according to Genealogical History of the Quinby (Quimby) Family in England and America (1915). His parents were Joseph Bailey Quinby and Annie Laurie. Quinby explained why he changed his birth name.

“Because I was born on the birthday of my mother’s brother, John Laurie, they named me for him. Later in life I preferred to reverse the order of these names, calling myself Laurie John; you see the tendency always was with me to arrange things to suit myself. For doing this, however, I had some reason. In those days there was a prize fighter who had made himself quite notorious. His name was John L. Sullivan. I had no liking for ‘sluggers,’ and so boys and men, whether to irritate me or not, would speak of me as John L., just as they did of him. I did not like that. Then I thought that Laurie J. Quinby sounded a bit more euphonious, that it was better balanced and such like things, all of which at that time did and still do seem sufficient reason for my writing my name as I please. Then a name is only a label, and I see no reason why any one should not be conceded the right to write his name as he chooses, regardless of any other consideration. However, I have always gone on the theory that if I have ever done anything I should be sorry for I am glad of it, for in the doing of those things we at least learn the lessons of right conduct. We learn what not to do the next time. ...

The 1870 United States Census counted six-and-a-half-month-old Quinby (line four) as the youngest of seven siblings. The family lived in Cincinnati, Ohio. Quinby’s father was a newspaper editor (line 36).

In the 1880 census, the Quinby family (lines two through nine) were residents on Jefferson Street of Dayton, Kentucky. Three of Quinby’s older brothers were printers.

On March 12, 1892, Quinby married Cora A. Clinkinbeard at Boyd, Kentucky.

Direct Legislation Record, March 1899, profiled Quinby.

Direct Legislation Record, September 1900, reviewed, on page 48, Quinby’s booklet, The Open Door.

According to the 1900 census, Quinby (line 53), his wife and daughter, Minerva, made their home in Omaha, Nebraska. They were lodgers in the Majors household at 223 Howard Street. Quinby was a printer.

Quinby (line 34) had the same profession in the 1910 census. His family lived in Dundee, Nebraska at 4916 Dodge Street.

Quinby attended and spoke at the first annual picnic of the printing trades of Omaha.

The 1920 census, enumerated January 13, listed Quinby on line 45. The magazine editor lived in Seattle, Washington at 907 Boren Avenue.

A month later on February 12, 1920, which was Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, published Quinby’s “Abraham Lincoln”.

In the early 1920s Quinby moved to Los Angeles, California where his wife, Cora, passed away on July 8, 1923.

In 1925, the Typosium published Three Paths: An Allegorical Romance which was written by Wallace Clifton, a pseudonym of Quinby.

The 1930 census said Quinby (line 14), his daughter and granddaughter, Jocelyn, lived at 1717 North Alexandria Avenue in Los Angeles. His household included five lodgers. Sixty-one-year-old Quinby was not working.

The American Republic of States and Democracy of Citizens was Quinby’s next book published by the Typosium in 1930.

Quinby’s Jefferson-Lincoln Symposium of What Constitutes Americanism was published by the Davies Printing Company in 1936.

At some point, Quincy married Harriet Brockway Weaver. In the 1940 census, the couple (lines 12 and 13) were counted in Los Angeles at 1119 South Victoria Avenue.

Seven-and-a-half months later, Quinby passed away on November 17, 1940 in Los Angeles. He was laid to rest at Hollywood Forever.

The Lincoln Star (Nebraska), November 22, 1940, said

Laurie Quinby, Former State Senator, Dies
Omaha, Nov. 22—Friends here were notified today of the death at Los Angeles Nov. 16 of Laurie J. Quinby, 71, one time prominent Omahan and a state senator in 1914.

The Freeman, January 1941, said

Laurie J. Quinby died in Los Angeles on November 17, after a long illness. He was 71 years old.

Mr. Quinby, a veteran Georgist, was for many years engaged in journalism and politics. He had published several books, and was much sought after as a public speaker. He wrote his own obituary, an inspired work which is published in the current issue of Land and Freedom.

Mr. Quinby’s body was cremated. He is survived by his widow, Harriet Quinby; by a daughter, Minerva Quinby Ingold, and a granddaughter, Jocelyn Ingold.

(Next post on Monday: Art Direction 1967)

Monday, October 12, 2026

Comics: Howard Rogofsky, Comic Book Dealer

Howard Rogofsky was born on October 10, 1946 in the Bronx, New York according to the New York, New York Birth Index at Ancestry.com. His father was Nathaniel Rogofsky who was born in Manhattan on April 18, 1921. He married Mildred Weinberg in the Bronx on August 2, 1942. Rogofsky’s paternal grandparents were immigrants. The 1950 United States Census said Harry Rogofsky was born in Poland. According to the 1920 census he immigrated in 1913. Harry married Lillie Alpert in Manhattan on September 30, 1917. She was born in Lithuania, according to her World War II Alien Registration, and immigrated in 1911.

The 1925 New York state census said Rogofsky’s father, Nathaniel (also Nathan and Nat) had an older brother, Philip. They lived with their parents in the Bronx at 850 East 175th Street. Rogofsky’s grandfather did painting.

The 1930 census recorded the family of six in the Bronx at 2143 Clinton Avenue. Nathaniel was the second of four brothers. The next two were Sidney and Murray.

The Rogofskys have not yet been found in the 1940 census.

Rogofsky’s father signed his World War II draft card on February 16, 1942. His address was 1344 Wilkins Avenue in the Bronx. He was employed by New York City Transit in Brooklyn. His description was five feet eleven inches, 200 pounds, with brown eyes and black hair.

Three months after his marriage, Rogofsky’s father enlisted on November 16, 1942. His hospital file, at Ancestry.com, said he served in a support unit of the Air Force. In March 1945, he was hospitalized at Scott Field, Illinois for an infection, nasopharyngitis, acute.

The 1950 census counted three-year-old Rogofsky (line 3), his parents, newborn sister, Leslie (born in Brooklyn), and maternal grandmother, Pauline Weinberg, in the Bronx at 1680 Vyse Avenue. Rogofsky’s father worked in the powerhouse of the New York City transit system.

In Comic Book Marketplace #18, October 1992, Rogofsky was interviewed and said his family moved to Queens, in 1955, where he graduated high school in 1965. However, the Andrew Jackson High School, in Cambria Heights, said Rogofsky was in the Class of 1964. He did not appear in the 1964 or 1965 Pioneer yearbooks viewed at Classmates.com. (In 1967 Rogofsky’s sister, Leslie, graduated from Andrew Jackson High School.)

The New York, New York Marriage License Index, at Ancestry.com, said Rogofsky and Gail Roth obtained a Queens marriage license, number 3401, in 1965. In 1964, Gail graduated William Howard Taft High School in the Bronx. The yearbook said she planned to be a dental hygienist.

Rogofsky was a teenager when his comic book mail-order business began. In the interview he said

... in 1960, I got two fanzines, which have long [been] out of business, that listed several people selling comic books. I wrote to them and the rest is history I guess you could say.

Comic book dealer Robert Bell, who was interviewed in Comic Book Marketplace #36, June 1996, said

... Howard Rogofsky used to come into my shop all the time and he would have a want list with the amounts people would be willing to pay for certain issues. I would have a whole wall full of books, many on his list. He would just come in and say “I’ll take that, and that and that, and that.” If my price was $3 to $5, Howard would double his money when he sold them. I would discount some depending on how much money Howard spent. ...

Rogofsky advertised in numerous publications including the Overstreet Comic Price Guide, TV Guide, Marvel and DC Comics, newspapers, magazines, convention programs, and fanzines such as Rocket’s Blast Comicollector. He also published catalogs.

DC Comics, September 1986, lower left corner

On February 25, 1966, Rogofsky appeared on the Joe Franklin television show. The Associated Press reported Phil Seuling’s 1968 International Convention of Comic Art and noted, “Howard Rogofsky, 21, said he sold a 1939 first edition Marvel Mystery for $330.”

Rogofsky witnessed a murder and testified in court. The Jersey Journal (Jersey City, New Jersey), September 14, 1985, said

… Howard Rogofsky of Queens testified earlier in the day he had seen Cardinale push Miss Cheung onto the tracks.

“He gave her a shove with two hands,” Rogofsky said. “She went flying onto the tracks and the train hit her.”

The witness said he heard Cardinale say afterward, “I’m glad I did it.”

Newsday, December 18, 1989, profiled Rogofsky here and here.

Public records, at Ancestry.com, said Rogofsky had addresses in Rosedale, Bayside, Glen Oaks and Jamaica, New York.

Rogofsky’s mother died on September 1, 2002 and father on March 22, 2004. Rogofsky’s wife, Gail, died on October 5, 2016. Rogofsky passed away on April 22, 2024. All were laid to rest at Wellwood Cemetery.

Further Reading
CGC, Howard Rogofsky

CBCS, H. Rogofsky/Carbonaro Buy/Sell Event-Action 1
Walter Day, 82—Howard Rogofsky
Kenneth Spencer Research Library Archival Collections, Dealer Catalogs

Related Post

Phil Seuling

(Next post on Monday: The Typosium, Los Angeles, 1925)

Monday, October 5, 2026

Lettering: Tommy Thompson, Lettering Artist

The Inland Printer, January 1953

Samuel Winfield “Tommy” Thompson was born on February 23, 1905 in Blue Point, New York according to the New York State Birth Index (at Ancestry.com) and his World War II draft card. His parents were Benjamin David Thompson (1875–1941) and Anna Maria Hudson (1869–1917). (Who Knows—and What, Among Authorities, Experts, and the Specially Informed and American Metal Typefaces of the Twentieth Century had the correct birth year 1905. Most sources said he was born in 1906, a year associated with a copyright entry.)

The 1910 United States Census counted Thompson (line 97), his parents and older brother, Stanley, in Brookhaven, New York on Madison Avenue. His father was an engineer.

In the 1915 New York state census, the family of four (lines 15 to 18) were Brookhaven residents on Park Street.

According to the 1920 census, fourteen-year-old Thompson (line 65) was an “engraver helper” in the printing trade. He lived with his father and step-mother in Brooklyn at 120 Himrod Street.

A profile in The Inland Printer, January 1953, said

... his father apprenticed him to a former Bureau of Engraving and Printing craftsman running a Brooklyn plate-lettering and die-engraving plant.

In Manhattan, Thompson married Josephine F. Harm on July 17, 1928. He was a commercial artist residing at 138 West 58th Street.

The 1930 census said Thompson, his wife and son, Peter (1930–2005), lived in Mamaroneck, New York at 25 Livingston Avenue. Thompson was an advertising artist (line 78).

Thompson’s instruction book, The Script Letter, was published in 1939. A 1939 or 1940 issue of Art and Industry said

Tommy Thompson (Samuel Winfield Thompson, if we were to be formal) is a master of a delicate and difficult art—lettering to wit. In this and in layout (the two things are closely related) he has achieved results that not only do their job but have a rare beauty of their own. What is more, he knows all about the subject right the way back to the middle ages and beyond. This is what Gordon Aymar says about him and his new book: “Just to prove that scholarship is not dead and that craftsmanship is still alive in a world devoted to the machine, Tommy Thompson has produced a book on script which will be a ‘must’ for every letterer and art director.”

Thompson moved at least two times. In 1935, the Thompson family was in Ardmore, Pennsylvania. The 1940 census said he, his wife and three children were San Francisco, California residents at 1968 20th Avenue. He was a self-employed artist (line 9).

The same address was on Thompson’s draft card which was signed on October 6, 1940. He was employed by Marc Messinger. Thompson was described as five feet five inches, 125 pounds, with blue eyes and blonde hair.

In 1942, Thompson’s second book, The ABC of Our Alphabet, was published.

Thompson’s second marriage was to Hazel P. Bronson on August 1, 1943 in Richmond, Virginia (certificate at Ancestry.com).

In Life with Letters as They Turned Photogenic (1981), Edward Rondthaler recounted how Thompson became the first lettering artist (starting in 1944) to earn royalties for his typeface designs.

Thompson had a full-page in the article, “Lettering & Calligraphy in Current Advertising and Publishing”, in Print, Fall 1945.

Thompson’s next book, How to Render Roman Letter Forms, was published 1946.

The Inland Pinter, June 1948, said

Tommy Thompson is probably better known for his prolific lettering efforts than for his type designs. The three type styles shown above are two titling letters for Collier’s magazine (caps only) and a titling letter for The Saturday Evening Post (which alphabet includes lower case). The influence of poster lettering (of which Mr. Thompson is a master) is plainly evident in these type designs.

The 1948 issue of Print (volume 4, number 4) featured “American Type Designers and Their Work”. Thompson was on page 18.

Thompson, his wife and son, Scott (1947–2008), were residents in Norwalk, Connecticut on Strawberry Hill Avenue. The 1950 census said Thompson was a printing type designer (line 12). A second son, Stanley, (1950–2022) was born after the census enumeration. Thompson’s book, Basic Layout Design, was published that year.

Thompson’s profile in The Inland Printer, January 1953, featured his typeface, Quillscript, for American Type Founders. Other typefaces were mentioned.

Over the past three decades Tommy’s understanding of the relationship of style to legibility has brought him commissions involving readability problems ranging in size from two points to five feet. He feels that acceptance of his pen-flavored scripts by ad agency and magazine art directors has speeded the trend away from the heavy, old-style body types that weighted down advertising thirty years ago. His facility in lettering lighter script forms is indicated by the popular use of his nearly 100 photo-lettering fonts. Many were designed for exclusive use by such national magazines as Collier’s, Saturday Evening Post, Holiday and Mademoiselle. He designed for Life a complete graded family of heading and byline script forms which are produced by Photo-Lettering, Inc.

Art Director & Studio News, May 1953, announced the availability of Quillscript.

Four months later, Thompson’s Mademoiselle Type was shown in Art Director & Studio News.

In 1954, Photo-Lettering Inc. exhibited Thompson’s lettering and promoted his typefaces, Photo-Trend and Federal.

A revised edition of The Script Letter was published in 1955.

Thompson’s name and signature (below) were in Photo-Lettering Inc’s Alphabet Thesaurus Nine Thousand (1960).

Alphabet Thesaurus Volume 2, Photo-Lettering Inc., 1970

Alphabet Thesaurus Volume 3, Photo-Lettering Inc., 1971

Photo-Lettering’s One Line Manual of Styles (1971)

In 1965, Script Lettering for Artists was Dover Publications’ reprint of The Script Letter.

Thompson passed away in 1967 in New York City. An obituary has not been found. The family tree at Ancestry.com said he, as Thomas Thompson, was laid to rest in Potter’s Field at an unnamed city and state. His wife, Hazel, died July 21, 1983.

Further Reading and Viewing
Fonts in Use
Luc Devroye

Related Posts

Victor Caruso, Photo-Lettering Inc. and ITC

Acey Cypress (scheduled for November 2)

Tony Di Spigna

Peter Dom

Joel Kaden, Photo-Lettering Inc. and ITC

Herb Lubalin, Part 7