Alphabets: Connie Rechel, Graphic Designer, Artist and Typeface Designer

 

March is Women’s History Month.
 

Letterform Archive posted an excellent article, on June 12, 2023, by Anne Galperin who wrote “The Women of Photo-Lettering”. Connie Rechel was one of ten women contributors. Here is a brief profile.

Constance “Connie” Rechel was born on October 11, 1911 in Chelsea, Massachusetts according to a passenger manifest and Find a Grave. Her parents were George William Rechel (1882_1961) and Marion Louise Norton (1883–1972).

The 1920 United States Census counted Rechel (line 25), her parents, brother and maternal grandmother in Chelsea at 469 Washington Avenue. Her father was a buyer in the wholesale grocery business.

She was mentioned several times in the local newspaper, Newton Graphic, from 1924 to 1937.

Rechel attended Newton High School. In 1928, she was in the National Honor Society. Rechel graduated in 1929.

Newtonian yearbook

In the 1930 census, the family (lines 76 to 80) lived in Newton, Massachusetts at 96 Beaumont Avenue.

Rechel continued her art training at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, in Boston, where she graduated in 1933.

The 1934 Newton city directory listed her as an artist who lived at 96 Beaumont Avenue.

I believe Rechel’s work was shown at the Mystic Art Association exhibitions in 1936 and 1937.

In 1938, Rechel visited Europe. She was aboard the ship Normandie when it departed Le Havre, France on July 27, 1938. She arrived at the Port of New York on August 1.

According to the 1940 census, Rechel lived with her parents and brother in Newton where she was an artist. 

 

At some point she moved to New York City. Rechel registered to vote on October 13, 1944. She did not name a political party. Her Manhattan address was 161 West 10 Street. Rechel has not been found in the 1950 census.

Rechel visited France in 1959. A passenger card said she boarded the Pan Am flight at Le Bourget, Paris, France, on April 18, 1959. Rechel’s New York address was 155 East 47th Street.

The Pine Manor Bulletin, September 1962, published a photograph of Rechel’s portrait of Marjorie Henry Ilsley. The date of the painting was not given.

In the 1968 publication, Genealogy and Family History of the Descendants of John Clarke of Wenham, Massachusetts and Exeter, New Hampshire, Marlene A. Hinkley had this entry for Rechel on page 109.

217. Marion Louise Norton ...
i. Constance Rechel, b. Oct. 11, 1911, Chelsea, Mass., unmarried. Artist at Norcross Greeting Card Co., 155 East 47th St., New York 17, New York.

It’s not known how many greeting cards Rechel illustrated and lettered.

Around 1964, Rechel designed a typeface for Photo-Lettering Inc. She was one of ten women to do so. In 1960, Alphabet Thesaurus Nine Thousand was published by Photo-Lettering Inc. The women letterers included Daisy Alcock (page 229), Shirley Smith (page 249), Jeanyee Wong (pages 226, 551) and Margaret Yakovenko (page 525). 

The Alphabet Thesaurus Volume 2 (1965; 1970 second printing) included the aforementioned women plus Deborah Ann Bristow (page 397), Betti B. Haft (page 233) and Rechel (page 85).

 

Three more women were added to the Alphabet Thesaurus Volume 3 (1971): Claudette Caccuciolo (page 107), Marie Frederick (page 380) and Hedda S. Johnson (page 458).

Rechel Sprite, Photo-Lettering’s One Line Manual of Styles (1971), page 32

 

Constance Rechel Fletcher passed away on November 14, 2014 and was laid to rest at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. The date and place of her marriage to Fletcher is not known.


Related Posts
Shirley Smith, a Book Jacket Designer and Lettering Artist
Margaret Yakovenko, a Package Designer, Illustrator and Typeface Designer
A Few Details About George Salter, Calligrapher, Designer and Teacher
Miriam Woods, Lettering Artist and Book Jacket Designer
Jeanyee Wong

 

(Next post on Monday: A Few Details About Elisabeth Holden Webb, Manuscript Illuminator)