Typography: Blackglama 1968–1994

 

The Blackglama advertising campaign, What becomes a Legend most?, began in 1968. The typeface resembles Akzidenz-Grotesk. In 1972, the typeface, Fat Face, was used for the headline and brand name.

 

 

48th Annual of Advertising, Editorial and Television Art and Design (1969)

 

Fat Face was designed by Ronné Bonder and Tom Carnase in 1970. Fat Face was offered by Lubalin, Smith, Carnase (LSC). Later, Fat Face became part of the International Typeface Corporation (ITC). In the Photo-Lettering Inc. catalogs, the typeface was known as Fatface.

Alphabet Thesaurus Volume 3 (1971)

 

Blackglama Models

1968: Lauren Bacall, Bette Davis, Judy Garland, Melina Mercouri, Barbara Streisand
1969: Joan Crawford, Marlene Dietrich, Lena Horne

1970: Brigitte Bardot, Maria Callas, Rita Hayworth, Leontyne Price (New York, December 20, 1971), 

          Rosalind Russell, Barbara Stanwyck
1971: Claudette Colbert, Paulette Goddard, Ruby Keeler
1972: Pearl Bailey, Carol Burnett, Carol Channing (The New Yorker, October 8, 1972), Ethel Merman
1973: Peggy Lee, Liza Minnelli, Diana Ross (Ebony, October 1976)
1974: Raquel Welch
1975: Mary Martin, Beverly Sills
1976: Martha Graham, Lillian Hellman, Margot Fonteyn, Rudolf Nureyev (New York, September 3, 1979)
1977: Suzy Knickerbocker, Shirley McClaine, Liv Ullmann (Vogue, October 1977), Diana Vreeland
1978: Faye Dunaway (The New Yorker, October 30, 1978), Joan Fontaine, Helen Hayes

1979: Lillian Gish, Angela Lansbury, Renata Scotto

 

1980: Merna Loy, Ann Miller, Maggie Smith, Lana Turner
1981: Luciano Pavarotti, Gloria Swanson, Natalie Wood
1982: Julie Andrews, Sophia Loren
1983: Elizabeth Taylor
1984: Lucille Ball, Dinah Shore
1985: Ann-Margaret
1986: Cher
1987: Audrey Hepburn
1988: Catherine Deneuve
1989: Claudette Colbert (second appearance)

1990: Ray Charles
1991: Jessica Tandy
1992: Jessye Norman
1993: Debbie Reynolds
1994: Tommy Tune


Further Reading and Viewing
Fonts in Use, ITC Fat Face
Blackglama, The Archive and Photographs
Jane Trahey on Women & Power (1977)
American Photographer, December 1978
What Becomes a Legend Most?: The Blackglama Story (1979)
New York, April 23, 1984, “Legends and One-Liners”
New York, May 21, 1984, “Unbecoming Legend”
Medium, B = Blackglama Fur Coat
Adweek, Why Blackglama Minks Dumped Their Divas


(Next post on Monday: A Few Details About Ronné Bonder, Graphic Designer and Entrepreneur)

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)

Creator: Margaret Yakovenko, Package Designer, Illustrator 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”. One of the ten women was Margaret Yakovenko. Here is a brief profile.

Margaret Yakovenko was born Margaret Theon Anderson on March 30, 1929 in Long Beach, California according to her Social Security application at Ancestry.com. Her parents, both Kansas natives, were Hiram Hamil Anderson (1888–1963) and Vera Dell Jones (1898–1975).

The 1930 United States Census counted Yakovenko (line 66) and her parents in Long Beach at 643 Atlantic Avenue. Her father was an insurance salesman.

In the 1940 census, the Anderson family (lines 1 to 3) were Long Beach residents at 2465 East 4th Street. Also with them was Yakovenko’s maternal grandmother, Margaret E. Jones, and five lodgers.

Yakovenko graduated Woodrow Wilson High School in June 1946.

Campanile yearbook

According to the 1950 census, Yakovenko (line 19) stayed at Douglas Hall, Winslow Arms Dormitory, 945 Hilgard Avenue. Apparently she attended the University of California, Los Angeles.

On October 23, 1954, she married Paul Emil Yakovenko at Rockwall, Texas (marriage record at Ancestry.com). They moved to New York City. In Manhattan, the couple registered to vote on October 11, 1956. Their address was 193 Second Avenue. Yakovenko, a housewife, was a Republican; her unemployed husband did not name a party. The same address appeared in Art Direction, February 1957 and January 1958. Yakovenko was package designer.

Photo-Lettering Inc. promoted her typeface, Yakovenko Picnic, in Art Direction, April 1959.

The Board of Elections in the City of New York, December 31, 1959, listed Yakovenko, a Democrat, at 307 East 10th Street. 

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  Yakovenko (page 525). Page one listed their names with their signatures on the opposite page.

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 Connie 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).

 

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

 

Art Direction, February 1962, said

Jim York, 360 E. 55 St., MU 8-7232, now reps Emni, men’s fashion and accessories illustration, as well as Frederick Marvin, woodcut and monoprint; Margaret Yakovenko, decorative; Sofia, illustration and children’s fashion; John Carl, still life photography; Dick Ely, women’s fashion.

Yakovenko illustrated the relaxation articles in Family Weekly, February 17, 1963 and February 24, 1963.

The 42nd Annual of Advertising and Editorial Art and Design (1963) selected Yakovenko’s illustration.

Yakovenko was named in her father’s obituary in the Santa Ana Register, October 13, 1963. Yakovenko and others were mentioned in the Congressional Record, Senate, June 30, 1966.

Yakovenko passed away on January 18, 1999. The Social Security Death Index said her last residence was San Juan, Puerto Rico.


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

 

(Next post on Monday: Connie Rechel, Graphic Designer, Artist and Typeface Designer)

Creator: Shirley Smith, Book Jacket Designer and Lettering Artist

 

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”. One of the ten women was Shirley Smith who designed the Photo-Lettering Inc. (PLINC) typeface Gothica. I believe she was the same Shirley Smith, a book jacket designer, whose best-known work was the art and lettering for Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird (1960). Two pieces of information helped to find Smith: her occupation in the 1950 United States Census and husband’s surname which appeared on a jacket design credit.

Shirley Smith was born on January 5, 1929 in Brooklyn, New York according to her Social Security application (transcribed at Ancestry.com). Her parents were Morris Smith and Lena Matloff, both Russian immigrants.

The 1930 United States Census counted Smith (line 41), the youngest of three siblings, her parents and paternal grandmother. They were Brooklyn residents at 724 DeKalb Avenue. Her father was a men’s clothing operator.

In 1939, Smith may have been a contributor to Aunt Jean’s Column in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.

In the 1940 census, the Smith family (lines 1 to 4) lived in Brooklyn at 192 Richmond Street. Her father (counted on the previous sheet) was the proprietor of a retail stationery store.

 

In June 1946, Smith filed her Social Security application.

Smith studied at Cooper Union and graduated in 1949. The influence of her instructor, George Salter, can be seen in her work.

Cable yearbook

If you need anything from a pin to eraser to

scissors, band-aids, aspirin or rubber cement

it is sure to be found in Shirley’s purse.

A quiet girl and a sincere worker she should

be successful in any undertaking.

According to the 1950 census, Smith (line 24) lived with her parents and sister at the same address. She was an artist for a book publisher. Smith completed three years of college (see questions in supplemental section).

Here are some of Smith’s book jackets and covers found at the Internet Archive and Google.

1953
Ideas and Places
Tolstoy: A Life of My Father

1954
The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book
I Protest

1955
Great Folktales of Wit and Humor

 

1957
Eclipse of God
Flight Into Morning
The Individual and His Religion

 

1958
Mary of Nazareth
Prayer That Prevails
The Story of Healing: The Divine Art

 

1959
How to Design Your Own Dress Patterns
The Irish Writers 1880–1940
The Last of the Provincials
Out of Our Past: The Forces That Shaped Modern America
Road to Revolution
The Winston Affair

1960
Basic Economics
The Bean Eaters
The Dark Road to Triumph
Jesus and the Origins of Christianity
To Kill a Mockingbird
Lovers, Mates, and Strange Bedfellows: Old-World Folktales
Now and at the Hour: A Novel
One World, One Mission
Walk Egypt

 

1961
Ancient Egyptian Religion
Angry Harvest
Decisions of Destiny
The Erotic in Literature

1962
Church Dogmatics
God Made Little Apples
Journey Into Darkness
Ministries of Mercy
Reorganizing the High School Curriculum
The Road from the Monument
A Short History of English Poetry, 1340–1940
Thomas Beecham: An Independent Biography
The World of Short Fiction: An International Collection

 

1963
European Literature and the Latin Middle Ages
Georgie Winthrop

1964
The Freedom-of-Thought Struggle in the Old South
Money to Grow On
This Was America

 

1965
The Heart of the Matter
The Love of Anxiety and Other Essays
Mining Camps, A Study in American Frontier Government
The Negro in Mississippi 1865–1890
Principium Sapientiae
Tennessee Williams: Rebellious Puritan

 

1967
A Flight of Steps

 

 

The jacket design credit was “Shirley Smith Scholl”. In 1962, Smith and Cornelius Scholl married in Manhattan. He graduated Pratt Institute in 1951.

Prattonia yearbook

1981
Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Nearly all of Smith’s covers were hand-lettered. I believe she designed, in 1956, the typeface Smith Gothica for PLINC. Her typeface was promoted in Art Direction, January 1957. She was the second woman, after Daisy Alcock, to contribute an alphabet. Third was Jeanyee Wong whose Genie was announced in Art Direction, July 1958. Margaret Yakovenko’s Picnic alphabet was promoted in Art Direction, April 1959.

 

In 1960, Alphabet Thesaurus Nine Thousand was published by Photo-Lettering Inc. The women letterers included Alcock (page 229), Smith (page 249), Wong (pages 226, 551) and Yakovenko (page 525). Page one listed their names with their signatures on the opposite page.

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 Connie 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).

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

Smith passed away on October 5, 2003 and was laid to rest at Beth Moses Cemetery. The Social Security Death Index said her last residence was Huntington Station, New York. Smith’s husband, Cornelius, passed away in 2023.


Related Posts
A Few Details About George Salter, Calligrapher, Designer and Teacher
Miriam Woods, Lettering Artist and Book Jacket Designer

Connie Rechel, Graphic Designer, Artist and Typeface Designer
Jeanyee Wong
 

 

(Next post on Monday: Margaret Yakovenko, a Package Designer, Illustrator and Typeface Designer)

 

 

Lettering: J. Albert Cavanagh, Lettering Artist

1939 Prattonia yearbook

John Albert Cavanagh was born on March 8, 1885 in Boston, Massachusetts according to his Massachusetts birth record (at Ancestry.com), World War I and II draft cards and Social Security application (at Ancestry.com). Many sources had the incorrect birth year 1888 which appeared on a 1946 copyright entry. Cavanagh’s parents were Sylvester G. Cavanagh, a shoemaker, and Rose G. Kelley, who married on November 25, 1880 in Needham, Massachusetts.

The Cavanagh family has not yet been found in the 1900 United States Census. A 1909 Boston directory listed Cavanagh, an artist, and his father at 1 Parkman Place. The residence column, as of May 1, 1908, said Cavanagh resided in New York, New York. Information about his art training is not available.

Cavanagh has not yet been found in the 1910 census. The 1915 New York state census counted Cavanagh (line 38), his wife, Katherine, and nine-year-old daughter, Estelle, in Manhattan at 140 West 105th Street. Cavanagh was an artist.

On September 12, 1918, Cavanagh signed his draft card. His address was 44 West 37th Street in Manhattan. The self-employed artist was described as medium height and build, with blue-gray eyes and dark brown hair.

According to the 1920 census, Cavanagh (line 30) was an artist in advertising. He and his wife resided in the Bronx at 2264 Creston Avenue.

Printers’ Ink, July 24, 1924, said

Form New Advertising Art Business
J. A. Bensinger and J. Albert Cavanagh, for the last five years members of the firm of, Cavanagh & Bensinger, Inc., advertising art, New York, have formed separate businesses at that city. Mr. Bensinger will continue under the name of Bensinger Studios. After August 1, Mr. Cavanagh will conduct a studio under his own name.

Cavanagh advertised in Printers’ Ink, September 4, 1924.

Printers’ Ink, October 23, 1924, said

G. P. Haynes with J. Albert Cavanagh
G. P. Haynes, recently with Rusling Wood, New York, has joined J. Albert Cavanagh, advertising art, New York. Mr. Haynes was at one time art director with Calkins & Holden, Inc., advertising agency, New York.

Cavanagh advertised in Advertising and Selling Fortnightly, November 5, 1924.

Printers’ Ink, February 5, 1925, printed Cavanagh’s hand-lettered advertisement.

In the 1925 New York state census, Cavanagh and his wife were Pelham, New York residents at 153 Fifth Avenue.

Cavanagh and his wife vacationed in the Bahamas and returned home on January 19, 1926.  

Printers’ Ink, January 28, 1926, said Cavanagh and Ben Nash gave a lecture about “The Principles of Hand-Lettering” at the Art Directors Club.

Cavanagh had an office in the Graybar Building.

Cavanagh has not yet been found in the 1930 census. For recreation Cavanagh played golf.

In the mid-1930s, Cavanagh had a school. In 1939 and 1947 he joined the faculty of Pratt Institute, in Brooklyn, New York, where he taught lettering. Cavanagh was a teacher at the Jean Morgan School of Art.

In 1939, Cavanagh published Lettering. The 1946 updated edition was published by Halcyon House. The 1955 Lettering and Alphabets was reprinted by Dover Publications.

The 1940 census said Cavanagh (line 32) and his wife lived in Mount Vernon, New York at 660 Locust Street. He was an art teacher.

The same address was on Cavanagh’s draft draft card which he signed on April 26, 1942.

Cavanagh passed away on July 20, 1947 in Boston. On July 22, 1947, the Boston Globe was first to publish an obituary.

Cavanagh—In Dorchester, July 20. John Albert, well-known artist. Residence, 232 East 40th st., New York city, New York. Beloved husband of Katherine (Wilson) Cavanagh and brother of Mrs. Eleanor Ryan of 62 Rockne av., Dorchester. Funeral from the chapel of James W. Dolan. Inc., 198 Adams st., Wednesday morning with a Requiem High Mass in St. Brendan’s Church at 10 a. m. Relatives and friends invited. Visiting hours 2 to 5 and 7 to 10. Vermont and New York papers please copy.

The Brooklyn Eagle, July 25, 1947, said

J. Albert Cavanagh, Instructor at Pratt
J. Albert Cavanagh, who for many years had been the director of the Cavanagh School of Art, 19 W. 44th St., Manhattan, and was an instructor in lettering at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, died Sunday in Boston at the home of his sister Mrs. Eleanor G. Ryan. He had recently returned from a vacation in Maine.

Mr. Cavanagh was a member of the Art Directors Club and the Advertising Club of New York. His home was at 232 E. 40th St., Manhattan.

Surviving are his widow, Mrs. Katherine Cavanagh; a daughter, Mrs. W. H. Williams, and his sister.

The funeral was held Wednesday in Boston.

The New York Times, July 25, 1947, noted his death.

J. Albert Cavanagh of this city, advertising lettering artist who had a studio at 19 East [sic] Forty-fourth Street, died on Sunday Boston while visiting a sister. He was 61 years old.

Cavanagh’s name and signature were in the Alphabet Thesaurus Nine Thousand (1960). His typefaces appeared on pages 195, 214, 220, 263, 325, 364, 368, 509, 511, 513, 521, 555, 577, 579, 587, 598, 610, 613, 642, 653, 662, 667, 693, 694, 703, 707, 709, 715 and 719.

Further Reading
Fonts in Use, John Albert Cavanagh

 

Related Post

John Pistilli
 

 

(Next post on Monday: Victor Moscoso in Art Direction)