Alphabets: Dan X. Solo, Man of a Thousand Faces

Dan X. Solo was born Daniel Xavier Killen on April 29, 1928, in Alameda, California, according to the California Birth Index at Ancestry.com. The transcribed birth information included his mother’s maiden name, Bernier. 

The 1930 United States Census recorded Solo and his mother, Evelyn, in the household of his maternal grandparents. They were Oakland, California residents at 2491 Kingsland Avenue. The name and status of Solo’s father is not known.

In the 1940 census they were at the same address. 

Solo was mentioned in the Oakland Tribune, July 26, 1940. 

Children Give Penny Show, Sell Lemonade to Help War Victims

A small boy walked into the Oakland Red Cross headquarters today, placed 73 cents on the counter and asked that it be sent to the war refugees in Europe.

He said his name was Dan Killen, and explained he had raised the money by giving a show for his neighborhood playmates in the basement of his home. ...

Solo attended Fremont High School. His talent show act was reported in the Oakland Tribune, April 17, 1944. 

... In the Scene of India, Dan Killen, attired in the costume of a magician of the Far East, presented an act designed to gain him the honor of representing his school. ...

On May 2, 1946, Solo signed his military service draft card. His address was 209 Van Ness Avenue in Watsonville, California. Solo’s description was six feet five inches, 132 pounds, with brown eyes and hair. He was employed at radio station KHUB. At some point his mother changed her name to Dale Orinda. Screenland, July 1941, published a contest entry from “Mrs. Dale Orinda, Oakland, Calif.” 

By 1949 Solo had changed his surname from Killen to Solo according to the 1949 Oakland city directory. Directories for 1947 and 1948 were not available at Ancestry.com.

The 1950 census said Solo and his mother were back in Oakland with his grandparents. His occupation was printer at a rubber stamp factory. 

The Oakland Tribune, June 12, 1951, listed marriage licenses issued. 

SOLO-BOSTICK—Daniel Xavier Solo, 23, Vallejo, and Beverly Clarinda Bostick, 21, Oakland.

The California Marriage Index, at Ancestry.com, said they married on June 17, 1951. 

Oakland city directories, from 1953 to 1956, listed Solo at 3444 Joaquin Miller Road. In 1957 his address was 3400 Crane Way.

Solo contributed to Graphic Arts Monthly. 

May 1955: Offer New “Antiques”

November 1955: Hundred-Tear-Old Process 

December 1955: Anyone for 18-point Chess? 

January 1956: Cross-Stitch Patterns 

February 1956: Edison, the Printer 

August 1956: Whatever Happened to All Those Maidens? 

September 1956: Franklin’s Five-day Week 

October 1956: Pay No More! 

December 1956: Those Crazy Comps! 

June 1958: Removing Stuck Mats 

December 1959: Automation vs. Employment 

April 1960: Impression on Glass 

May 1960: Engravings While You Wait 

July 1960: What’s in a Name? 

October 1960: Roofreader Wanted 

January 1961: Typographic Rogues Gallery 

July 1961: Chinese—The Hard Way 

January 1964, Hot Lead in the Old West

May 1981, Boston’s “Period Piece Printer” Maintains Collection of Old Fonts

During the 1960s, Solo worked at AM radio station KSAY. He had a 12:30 afternoon show. 

Solo’s mother, Dale Orinda, was promotional manager and commercial manager at KSFM in Sacramento. 

1960 Broadcast Yearbook

Gene Gable wrote about Solo at CreativePro.com. Gable said Solo, in 1962, sent thousands of catalogs of his type collection to advertising agencies around the country. In 1974, Solo began a long association with book publisher Dover Publications. (In some circumstances, Dover books were difficult to photostat or photocopy. I cut off the spines of the books and put the covers and pages in binders.)

On May 1, 1982, Solo married Diane Haffner. 

Solo filed a trademark application for “Solotype” which was recorded in the Official Gazette of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, November 15, 1988. 

Solo was profiled by Josh Sens in the East Bay section of the San Francisco Chronicle, December 27, 2002, and concluded with the following.

… Unwanted Font: If Solo were forced to pick [a] favorite from his catalog of fonts, he’d probably go with Phidian, an ornate typeface from the Victorian era. But for a font that blends high form with function, Solo’s first choice is Palatino, which was created by the German designer Herman [sic] Zapf and isn’t loved by everyone. 

Solo once did work for well-known Berkeley poster artist David Goines, who insisted on steering clear of the even better-known font. 

“He told me, ‘There are only two things that I can’t stand,’” Solo says, “Goat cheese and Palatino.” 

Goat cheese and Palatino. Sounds a bit like a kinky East Bay Club. 

Solo passed away on May 15, 2012, in Oakland, California. An obituary appeared in the June 2012 newsletter of the Oakland Magic Circle.

President’s Message

Aloha, Dan X. Solo.

April 29, 1928 – May 15, 2012

The month of May made a great change for our club. Dan Solo passed away on May 15, 2012. If you have been coming around to the Oakland Magic Circle you would know Dan X. Solo. Dan and Diane joined the OMC due to their friendship with Fred and Manya Casto.

As Manya told me, Diane was a customer of Manya’s clothing store on Piedmont Ave and as they were talking, Diane mentioned that Dan performed Spook Shows and did Mind Reading. When Dan did a lecture for our club, he also stated that his mother was a Fortune Teller and that is where Dan learned his craft. Dan was also the proprietor of a typography shop in Oakland dedicated to unusual typography and special effects. He also has published numerous books on typeface design. Dan was the one responsible for the OMC membership cards every year, too.

Dan and Diane were inseparable. They traveled on cruse ships giving lectures, they went on adventures all around the world, performing, lecturing about the days of the carnival and mind reading, the spook shows of the ’40s and ’50s and, Dan’s love for collecting type faces.

Unfortunately, I did not know Dan all that well, but when we did have the chance to chat, his comments and observations opened up a whole new window to my magical knowledge.

Aloha, Dan.

Magically, Scott Alcalay

Further Reading and Viewing

Print, Dan X. Solo, Type Revivalist, Dies

Luc Devroye, Solotype

MyFonts, Dan X. Solo

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(Next post on Monday: A Few New Details About Publisher M.C. Gaines and His Wife Jessie Kathryn Postlethwaite)

Comics: Ralph Komisarow, Letterer

Ralph Lawrence Komisarow was born on May 26, 1920, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, according to his birth certificate and World War II draft card at Ancestry.com. His parents were Harry Komisarow (1883–1940) and Mary Schefman (1893–1975).

The 1930 United States Census said Komisarow, his parents, older brother, Donald, and maternal grandparents were Fort Wayne residents at 1614 Alabama Avenue. His Russian father was the vice president of a wholesale fruit company. 

Komisarow attended North Side High School. He was staff cartoonist on the school’s newspaper, The Northerner, and mentioned many times: September 1935 – June 1936; September 1936 – June 1937; September 1937 – June 1938; September 1938 – June 1939; September 1939 – June 1940; Komisarow graduated in 1939 and planned to attend Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. 

The Legend, 1939 yearbook

In the 1940 census Komisarow lived with his parents in Fort Wayne at 4502 South Wayne Avenue. The census said he completed his first year of college. 

The Northerner, September 20, 1940, said Komisarow studied art at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. 

Former North Side Art Student Wins Recognition

Recognition for his art work was given to Ralph Komisarow, North Side student. Many of his drawings, including designs and decorative problems, were exhibited at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts on June 6, 7, 8 and 9.

Ralph is continuing his study of art at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, where he will enroll this fall as a sophomore. He is specializing in commercial art and expects to engage in advertising work later. While in school he has done art work for an outside paper and other free lance work.

The News-Sentinel (Fort Wayne, Indiana), May 26, 1941, said Komisarow was in the Student Exhibition of the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. 

Ralph Komisarow, 4502 South Wayne Avenue, a student at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, will have an exhibit of his drawings on display at the forthcoming Student Exhibition of the school, June 5, 6, 7 and 8. Komisarow is studying commercial art at the school this year. 

The Student Exhibition is being held in connection with the 40th year anniversary celebration of the academy. The galleries of the school will be open to visitors on all four days from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

On July 1, 1941, Komisarow signed his World War II draft card. He lived in New York City at 336 West End Avenue. Some time later the address was updated to 300 West 72nd Street which was his brother’s address. Komisarow was a student at the Phoenix Art Institute. He was described as five feet nine inches, 131 pounds, with gray eyes and blonde hair. It’s not clear if he served during the war. 

1945 Manhattan, New York City Directory

Who’s Who of American Comic Books 1928–1999 said Komisarow was a letterer who worked in the comic book field beginning the the 1940s. He may have lettered for his cartoonist brother, Don. The Grand Comics Database has a checklist of Don’s work. 

According to the 1950 census, Komisarow lived with his widow mother in New York at 505 West 72nd Street. He was an advertising artist. 

The Komisarow brothers were the subject of a tax suit as reported in Art Direction, January 1957. 

Artist Wins Tax Suit

Cartoonist held not subject to New York State Unincorporated Business Tax

The New York State Tax Commission has handed down a decision holding that Don and Ralph Komisarow, commercial artists operating as a partnership, were not liable for the Unincorporated Business Tax. The Commissioners found that they were engaged in the practice of a profession and not conducting a business.

Efforts on the part of artists in New York state to win professional status recognition have previously been unsuccessful. Such status effects a tax savings which has long been enjoyed by architects, doctors, lawyers and some other professionals. The situation has been of particular interest to New York state artists who in recent years were hit with bills, net only for current business tax, but for several years back payments. Previous successful claims were usually based on the artist establishing some specialty such as industrial design, but the strictly advertising artist has heretofore been unsuccessful before the tax commission.

A Precedent, a Hope

The Komisarow case offers a precedent and hope for others to appeal their cases and to establish their professional status. For additional background articles on this problem see Art Direction, February 1956, pages 54-58; March i954, pages 12-14. August 1954, page 5; February 1955, pages 38-39.

The Komisarows were represented at he hearing before the Commission by Mrs. Sarah L. Day, an attorney who was at that time with the accountants for the taxpayers. Mrs. Day presented two expert witnesses, — Dr. George McNeil, at the time of the hearing the Dean of the Evening Art School at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, but now with the University of California at Berkeley, and LaVern Mock, a well-known art director, illustrator, and former president of he Artists Guild of N. Y.

Don Komisarow testified that he had had art schooling at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts and American Academy in Chicago; that he had for some years worked for King Features as an illustrator of important news stories; and that he now did advertising comic strips for “blue chip” accounts as well as other work in the commercial art field. Dr. McNeil and Mr. Mock examined samples of Komisarow’s work and testified that, in their opinion, based on their experience and training, it required professional training and artistic talent to create such work. Dr. McNeil also stated that commercial art was a profession and that Pratt Institute, as well as other institutions of learning, offered a degree in that field.

Commission Unanimous

Based upon the testimony of the witnesses, the Tax Commission unanimously held that the artists were engaged in the practice of a profession and were therefore not subject to the New York State Unincorporated Business Tax.

We have just learned about this important decision and hasten to bring it to the attention of other free-lance artists who may be in a similar situation. Heretofore the State has gone along with exempting artists in the fine arts field from this additional tax burden, but has refused to recognize commercial artists as having a professional status. The decision is particularly significant because the Komisarows’ work is in such an obviously commercial segment of art, —the advertising comic strip, and Ralph Komisarow, one of the partners, is a specialist in lettering, which he studied at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts.

Other points brought out at the hearing were that “more than 80% of the taxpayer’s income being derived from personal services rendered to clients, that capital was not a material income producing factor in the production of taxpayers’ income.” ... “and that all his income in the practice of his work comes from personal services which he renders producing the art work. In his studio, he has drawing boards and materials to turn out such work but could do the same at his home.”

It was also pointed out that “there are no employees in the studio except Donald or Ralph Komisarow.” Actually, this fact had little bearing on the decision, as the Walter Dorwin Teaque case, won by the industrial designer years ago, involved an organization at the time of over 50 employees. The heart of the matter is that personal services rather than capital was the income producer.

Mr. Mock, in testifying for the professional capabilities of the Komisarows’, explained how the Artists Guild and other groups are trying to devise a means whereby professional status for the artist could be determined once and for all.

It’s not clear how long Komisarow worked in advertising. Apparently he never married. 

Komisarow passed away on  June 8, 1997. The Social Security Death Index said his last residence was New York City. Komisarow was laid to rest at Lindenwood Cemetery. 

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(Next post on Monday: Dan X. Solo, Man of a Thousand Faces)

Creator: William Powell Schoonmaker, Illustrator, Designer and Lettering Artist

William Powell Schoonmaker was born on November 14, 1890, in New York, New York, according to his birth certificate. His parents were William Schoonmaker and Rachel Kortright who resided in Manhattan at 57 Leroy Street.

The 1900 United States Census said Schoonmaker was the fourth of six siblings. The family lived in Manhattan at 550 Hudson Street. Schoonmaker’s father was a porter. 

The Schoonmakers were at the same address in the 1905 New York state census. 

According to the 1910 census, Schoonmaker was studying art at the YMCA. He lived with his parents in Manhattan at 703 Greenwich Street. His father was an elevator operator. 

Who’s Who in New Jersey (1939) said Schoonmaker studied at the Art Students League of New York City from 1909 to 1913. He freelanced in New York from 1913 to 1918, then in Philadelphia from 1918 onward. 

Schoonmaker’s illustration for John Martin appeared in Good Housekeeping, October 1913.

Signed in lower right-hand corner

At some point, the Schoonmakers moved to New Jersey. In the 1915 New Jersey state census, they were counted as residents of Richfield Township in Bergen County. Their address was 362 Grand Avenue. Schoonmaker was an artist. 

Schoonmaker did the illustrations and decorations for “St. Francis and the Wolf” in John Martin’s Annual 1916.

The Printing Art, May 1917, featured Schoonmaker’s work. 

On June 5, 1917, Schoonmaker signed his World War I draft card. His address was the same. His birth was recorded as 1891 instead of 1890. The description of the self-employed artist was stout build, medium height, with brown eyes and hair. 

Some Examples of the Work of American Designers (1918) featured the work of several designers including Schoonmaker. 

A listing in a 1918 New York City directory said Schoonmaker lived in Leonia, New Jersey and had a studio at 7 West 14th Street. 

The Inland Printer, February 1919

On August 9, 1919, Schoonmaker and Corinne Turner, an illustrator, obtained, in Manhattan, marriage license number 22917. It’s not clear how Schoonmaker met Turner who illustrated Blanche Weitbrec’s 1911 book, The Men on Horseback. Did Schoonmaker meet Turner through Weitbrec or vice versa? Whatever the case, Schoonmaker made bookplates for both. 

The Printing Art, May 1917

The marriage was short-lived. A death notice appeared in The New York Times, March 21, 1920.

Schoonmaker—March 19, 1920, Corinne Turner, beloved wife of William P. Schoonmaker and daughter of Mary Reeve and the late Richard W. Turner. Funeral services Stephen Merritt Chapel, 223 8th Av., near 21st St., Sunday afternoon, 2 o’clock. Interment Woodlawn Cemetery. 

Schoonmaker has not yet been found in the 1920 census. 

The Inland Printer, November 1921, featured Schoonmaker’s work. 

The Inland Printer, June 1923, showcased the work of William Kittredge who hired Schoonmaker on two projects. 

Schoonmaker and Weitbrec were issued a marriage license on December 19, 1923 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They married the following day. 

Receipt

The Art of Lettering (1924) included three pieces by Schoonmaker. 

The American Printer, August 5, 1924, printed Schoonmaker’s lettering and design. 

In the 1930 census, Schoonmaker and his wife resided at the Gladstone Hotel, 1100 Pine Street, Philadelphia. He was a self-employed commercial artist and she an author of poetry and fiction.

The Canyon News (Texas), January 12, 1933, published a photograph of Schoonmaker and others. 

The 1940 census counted the couple at the same location. 

Schoonmaker passed away on January 31, 1942 in Philadelphia. The death certificate, at Ancestry.com, said the cause was cerebral hemorrhage due to arteriosclerosis. A death notice appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer, February 1, 1942.

Schoonmaker—Jan. 31, Wm. P., husband of Blanche W. Schoonmaker. Funeral services on Tues., at 2 o’clock. Parlors of Mrs. J.L. Snodgrass, 1644 N. 29th st. Cremation West Laurel Cemetery. Friends may call Monday evening, 8 to 10.

One of Schoonmaker’s last works was On Wings of Healing: Prayers and Readings for the Sick and Shut-In (1942). Two Schoonmaker illustrations were published in The Modern Wonder Book of Knowledge (1949). 

Weitbrec passed away in 1973. 

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(Next post on Monday: Ralph Komisarow, Letterer)