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 3, Photo-Lettering Inc., 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.
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
Fonts in Use
Luc Devroye
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