IT JL .G-4 TT 360 .G6 Copy 1 iKis- 'Vizard of ktt^r^raft " Copyright June, 1915, Gordon & George Wm. Qp moy be on omotcuu— moy be an expert— _ mu9t know. t>i' will \QQ\'ti,/j7/St —the more work you can do, —the belter you can do it, ~ the quicker you can do it. /!ke greater w/7/ be i/our compensat/on. &RQAD-STROKE . LCTTCHmG ftns I X^\i\%Jjff/eTf^jd oP Modern lettercraft was devised, designed and is made wholly and- strictly from the Uttei^i-s standpoint.-—-- "--Every part, every feature, is just for this - gurpose. » la enable you to do more lettering" I less time and to do it betta; with less * effw't. than with any other pen or device in — an; ^t *««<■„;.„.,, AUG -2 1915 The original size 10x14 first spattered with air brush, t hrough stencil and lettered with "Speed Ball" pens No. 2 and 3, white outlined with a brush. (I) S"tsL3nLcia.irci Alphabets a.bcd.efghijklm nopc[rstTJLVwxyz ABCDEFGHIJKL MNOPQRSTUVWX Y. 12 34 5e7690.Z Made by one-strotce Tnethod Original- size lO x i^ Time 7-46^-^ 10x14 original, spatter border first and broken pen lines run diagonally, lettered with pens No. 3 and 4, in 7 minutes, seconds. (2) (3) vino Vie vitnat^abLc <^tULc^)fatiatiott6 that ^^ cvtc yoiy^Md wiifi^ inly perv abcdefgtiijklmnopqrstuvwxyz. Phideas Hanifold 21 abcdefg'hijklmnopqrstuvwxy Chicago. abcdefghijklmnopqrrsluvsj abc6(^hifklmnopqrstuaivxj/z&i manu others 2 abcdBfghijklmnDpqrstuviDxyz- condensed gothic? ^///ettemgr on this plate done with same pen ast'nj tkefht lettering shoe on oReside for fkekeavi/fi/pes. and turning the same pen over "Ori its ^sl.< r ■3OC1CK HAriD- LETTERED Ivcrlisitt^ - ^fspld^ JTedjfrngs ^. The broad, even stroke of this pen is so accurate, so sure and so rapid, and admits of so many different styles, that it has met with universal commendation by all who have g-iven it a trial. :^-*^"Ck _55 5? S? \ji^^j^jf.n '^.M E Tir^. ^■^■^ ^<^«"X<«.."..j'^^M':mamv '~i' ».^-o;s>a 31 *5 Original 1 35^x2 1 , black card mounted on stipple decorative border stunt, lettered with No. I pen in white ink. (17) El l =^ ^^< ^ i r?i i= ') C^ ^ ^ THE^GE OF SPEED I abcdefghijklmy i ^ nopqrstuvwxz ^ \ I ^ ^ ABCDEFGHIJKLM - NOPQRSTUVWXYZ the above alphabet, upper and lower case complete was made in four minutes and ten seconds with speed-ballpen np Q. - a typical product of tKiS; '''SheJg^ ofcSjpeed " iq i. XX y= '> fil<= x y ^ l |g| Original 10x14. Note free hand border with No. 2 and 3 pen. Alphabet lettered in 4 minutes, 10 seconds. (18) s'»i«i..jj; -v ^4f •^>- --*^^*=r«>i *«<^i,i>> iv< ; i^ Am"*- ^ ^ •:• ■;^n-JMa>»!to,-rw.ii^fla'.:^^-.-ir»»-imgffej.«en, or brush, you will appreciate the ease with which this class of work can be done with a small "Speed Ball" pen. The small lettering on the above card shows outline construction to be filled in with one stroke. (20) '^Ke marking- poinl of the speed- ballpen is a perfectly square, flat shoe and when held al right angles with the paper it produces a square dot. "THUS'iaaaaaaaaa and when stroke is continued, in a.ny divection-, it is of even thickness throughout, the flo\Ar of ink or color being Jlutomatically Controlled- This position of the pen is •maintained in constructing- letters of the Block Series THusSIIIF ahir»H sincrlp-ctrnkp THUS HUE abed single-stroke JIgain- ty holding the point of the marhing shoe in the proper angle with the paper, the sqvtare shoe produces A diamond shaped dot- "THUS'^^^******* • ««♦♦♦♦ which continued as a stroke- m any direction, forms the principles and foundation of an entirely different series of modern alphabets THUS iJiabcd-HavanaSl Original with white ink on 15x21 black card showing the difference in characters obtained with same pen held at dif- terent angles while lettering. (21) ''■'•Vr': Papid ShoCardStyle abcdefghijklm nopqrsiuvwxyz ABCDETGnURLAyM OPQR5TUVWXYZ5X 1254507690 f m '■.;"*fr ■^? A bold face type of rapid single stroke construction, most suitable for quick show card lettering, this is a familiar, readable alphabet; can be made with any size "Speed Ball" pen on cards up to the full sheet size. Original on 10x14 No. 3 pen. (22) e tzi o ll> I (23) OintHime Letterin^ made easily and rapidly witli ikis wonderful pen, aa bbccddeef f gglhhiijjkkll m m n nooppqq ff ss ttmvwxyz ABCDEFGIUKLMNOPQ swYAiMsmmwMi Showing- One-stroke, FREEHAND outline and construction of a rapidly executed, modified Roman Letter. NOTE the even tKicknees. square finish and graceful curves of each line throug-hout, made in any direction without trimming- up, retouching or chang'ing" position of pen-point or hand «-C9ny alphabet w^ith w^hich a person is familiar, can be made from three io iiwe times as fast as with the ordinary lettering pens, tools or devices. -.-<-« A careful analysis of the above constructive elements of modern rapid lettering demonstrates the time saving possibil- ities of this pen, every stroke counts, thickening up strokes and patching is practically eliminated. (24) KlB(2B(£F®fil ABCDEFGHI diimii^Vm JKLMNOPQR smmw^^iiz STUVWXYZ81 Any one who can 5(se 5ttering9^ns The different style cliaracters produced by holding pen in 2 different positions. Position N'liniLiOL Hold pen af right-angle pointing squarely at top of page. the point. or flat marking shoe will produce a square dot. "THUS" uuiiLi which continued as a stroke forms any letter of the 5lock or plain Gothic Series. '^rn same pen over on ib* bad it produces all the- Roman Series or (Dli^Sfnalisl] (Tharadcr^. Position W? 2 HI rviiniiii Hold the pen pointing at upper left hand corner of page, the flat marking shoe will produce a diamond shape dot .... 'Thus"— tUsiii which continued as a stroke forms any letter of the Bold face Roman Series <^^ is practicallj/ a Soubic parpode pen. '^-in 1 " (L/ic Front for Heavy Face 'v/ic back for ffairlinc^pes. The original of this plate lettered on 22x28 card with "Speed Ball" No. I and 2, the hands illustrating positions I and 2 were held in position as shown herewith and the whole photographed together to reduce to this 5x7 cut. (32)= JOYCEOFT DISPLAY abcdefgrhijklmnopqrstuvwxyz at ivm fKe. ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPaRSTVVWXYZ ••• y^W^ ••• m> r^t' Jensen Bold Condensed abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ Original size 10x14, showing modern standard alphabets, slightly modified, built up with the small size "Speed Ball" (jen. The decorative monograms may be first lightly sketched in with a pencil, then inked up with bold broad strokes, much more effectively and quickly than with an ordinary line pen. (33) abcdeighijklmnopqrstuvwxyz &i . ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ ahcdBfghijklmnnpqrsluvLUxyzs blocks ABCDEF&HUKLMNDPDRSTUVWXYZ 2(Cd. W. ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPORSTUVWXYZa abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz gothic S-lDc:cie£gln.ijklrn.r\opq^iPS-tu.xj-txrx.y z Sngrossing QBCPBSF5'eHI^JKL2giigiMO©PQRSGT^en No. 5. Check effect in decoration done with one square dot of pen No. 1 . Top alphabet is made with double stroke of small pen on heavy parts of letters and single stroke on fine lines. (34) abcdefg'Kijklmi\^pqrstuvwx^2 aad abcdefghijklmnopqratuumijz Cordon ^xt abcdofgliijldm nopqr9t uvvxy z 81 QDOD[rOHIc)KLnNOPQR9TUVVXTZ. Decorative and semi-decorative alphatbets of unique character made by the single stroke method at a surprising rate of speed. Any size up to 2 inches in height with the largest sizes of "Speed Ball" pens. (35) One Thousand 9uggG>stioiis Wedding Gift? Effects ,£adie9 Balmacaan / 1 Choice I I5f ^ ddvertismg Cuts. ^Tp^ k big Kii pry . Price? TickQtP made with ONE STROKE - of tlie Speed- ball Pen. Voiks equally mell in IfA/re or Coioi\s. ly to ord 4t 'C^-for iXiy^ -loiniGi price ♦ 35" NOW ♦Ift^" Q^our Choice 6rt7y. T.d<.y ^ r>5o litipofted Cli evict oo london's latest 'aCo •Cravenette # 36°-^ speed-Ball' refers to the "Name "of the Pen — -there is no Ball point, it is unlike any tool offered for sale anywhere- Contrived and perfected by Hugh Gordon and Ross F.George. June 15-1913. to Sept. 1.1914 Double St rok.e F I c u R. E s -sf? Speod-bdil 125^3 The modern show card writer, must of necessity, be able to turn out large quantities of work in a limited time. The "Speed Ball" p>ens will enable the ordinary workman to produce high grade work at top speed. It's all in the pen. Cuts your time in two and your labor in half. (36) THE GROWING DEMAND FOR GOOD LETTERING. The finest quality of lettering which is used for advertising purposes is the kind in which there is the most money for the advertiser, also for the one who produces such work. This growing demand for a better grade of lettering is due to the fact that the public has at last awakened to the educational value of good work. Now to do good work one must have the correct tools. That the demand for high grade work will continue to increase is a recognized fact; for the constant development of the esthetic sense in our educational institutions is bound to produce notable and lasting results. While we may not have passed completely through an era of cheapness. There is less desire for the cheap article than there was a few years ago, that is, if the lowness of the price is at the sacrifice of elegance, worth and good taste. In the beginning of things; our prehistoric ancestors used elementary sounds to convey thought. The next evolution produced signs representing elementary sounds. Historically the Greek Hyroglyphs are the source of all existing alphabets. Without entering into various theories it may be stated that the Roman letters derived their birth from this source, and in their various modifications remain with us today. In other words they form the basic principle of most ; if not all our modern alphabets. Returning to the beginning: we take up the manner in which these characters were produced. It goes without saying that the tools used were marked by extreme simplicity; the first marking tool of the lettercrafters is supposed to be the reed; which has been traced back as far as the 1 5 th century, B. C. The quill superceded the reed in the 8th century and has been used from that period up to modern times in which the pen of steel enters the field. Spencer, the originator of our present system of Spencerian script, used a quill sometimes in preference to the steel f)en and right here I want to say "that the pro- fessional penman of today" with the latest edition of steel pens has to show extraordinary class to produce as clever a copy as "father Spencer" could knock out with a quill pen, fashioned to his particular fancy and requirements with a knife. Note: Hence the name, "Pen knife." Hand craft lettering, one of the oldest of the applied arts fell into general disuse with the advent of printed letters in the 15th century. This art was later revived in preparing designs for ornate book plates, titles, etc., and in the engrossing of one copy jobs such as charters, certificates, memorials, diplomas, etc., which work was usually done on parchment or papyrus. Some of the most beautiful and costly examples of lettering, and illuminating known to the art were produced by hand; with nothing further in the way of tools than various shaped quills and brushes of hair or bristle in the ornamentations thereof. The characters used were mostly of the text variety; which we have with us today in the various adaptations of old English and German texts, Italian and French scripts, and the Spanish bastarde styles. (37) These are all very beautiful in an ornamental way; but have fallen into general disuse in the present day with the exception of certain modern derivations of Roman and Egyptian types which bear but slight resemblance to the originals aside from the basic principles. Most of our modern and universally familiar newspapers and book types are of a character that is extremely difficult to copy by hand with any degree of speed using the ordinary pens and brushes which have heretofore been the only available tools, most of them have to be first outlined, then subsequently filled in, which method, must of necessity be an extremely slow and tedious process ; and further, it requires extraordinary skill on the part of the workmen to produce even a fair imita- tion of these accepted styles. The fact has given rise to the theory that to be a good letterer or penman, one must be pos- sessed of a natural aptitude or talent. As our forefathers would say "gifted," this fallacy probably accounts for the rather indifferent penmanship displayed by otherwise well educated people of the present generation, who have accepted this theory as an excuse, that unless "dame nature" had a linger in the pie; it was useless to try further than the first few feeble efforts and let it go at that. Let it be understood that we do not belittle this natural talent idea ; every day we are taking off hats to genius. It matters not what branch of the arts and crafts or other manifold accomplishments to which it applies, be he either naturally a "good shoveler or peddler of junk," he is entitled to just as much praise in his particular line as a Rembrandt or Beethoven in art or music, but, even in the absence of nature's sustaining influence it does not necessarily follow that the average human is forever barred out from these sacred precincts, the 20th century idea is to "butt right in" and try anything once, and if we can not accomplish our aims by one method to try another. The chances are favorable that modern scientific methods, properly applied, will solve this problem of success. Our prehistoric ancestors carved their thoughts symbolic, on stone, later some genius with a labor saving prepensity made use of some liquid color pigment applied to the inner lining of a dried sheepshide or the bark of a tree, later converting some pulpy mass into papyrus which is with us today in the various forms of everything called paper, from society stationery to bank notes. Regarding pens as tools of the craft, we may state that of all branches of the applied arts, the tools of hand letter- crafters have up to the present time profited least by the onward march of progress; today we are only two jumps ahead of our prehistoric ancestors. It is unnecessary to state that the art of modern hand lettering has derived its present popularity and commercial value with the advent of process engraving, which requires original design or copy in black, white and colors. This art, together with the increasing demand for hand lettered show cards as a direct sales message ; has opened up a prac- tically new field in lettercraft which offers remunerative employment to thousands of men and women. The chief requisite however, being "speed" in the execution of the most generally accepted familiar types of a thoroughly commercial character (38) minus the brain storm curly cues of the "natural talent" genius. The demand for a commercial class of work has in turn called for some pen, tool or device that would successfully produce these characters at a degree of speed consistent with the rush of modem business methods. Mechanical genius seems to have exhausted their resources in attempting to devise some tool that would successfully re- produce by hand, the modern type faces, most of these attempts have either been failures or near-failures. It has been a long-felt want unsupplied that has prompted some of the lettercrafters themselves to enter into a series of experiments along this line regardless of the science of mechanics, resulting in producing an almost complete revolution in the construction of a pen that will produce with almost incredible rapidity ; any of the antique or modern alphabets by the one stroke method, the bold heavy face types are produced by a square or round shape, flat-plane comb shoe fed by an automatic feed ink retainer with an upper and lower reservoir, just sufficient ink or color being released from the upper and larger reservoir to keep the feed reservoir supplied with just enough fluid to complete each separate stroke, and no more, thereby preventing flooding. The alternate heavy and fine line series of alphabets can also be made by turning the same pen over on its back, using the reverse pwint of flat shoe in contact with paper. The whole device is no larger than an ordinary pen point, fits any medium size holder, loads by dipping, just like any ordinary pen, and contrary to most ail other mechanical devices, it works successfully, and with ordinary care will last indefinitely. The speed with which this pen can be operated by either professional or amateur has suggested a name for itself, a chance remark, dropped by one of the first users, who happened to be a baseball fan as well as a letterer. "It's a Wiz" and certainly is a "speed ball" and so that is what it was and is. The "Speed Ball" pen. The Little Wizard of Lettercraft, and the manifold stunts it will perform is attested to by all who have tried it and all who have seen its work, of which herewith we present a few specimens. The various possibilities of this wonderful device compared with other lettering pens will not become apparent with the first trial. The following suggestions will be of importance. First: The selection of ink or color to be used to the best advantage. Without the proper ink it is impossible to get the best results from any pen. Thin, watery, transparent inks are of no use at any time, neither will thick, gummy, sticky masses be productive of good results. The various drawing inks either ordinary or waterproof are heavy fluids which are apt to flood or spread if the excess is not shaken out after dipping. The peculiar construction of the "Speed Ball" admits of using any finely ground show card colors, either black, white, tints, or colors, if treated in the following manner; First the colors should be free from lumps and grit thoroughly stirred up and thinned to the proper consistency with mucil- age or gum water. The addition of a few drops of alcohol will help the flowing quality, especially where rough surface blanks or mat boards are used, however, a good litho coated card will be found by far the best for any kind of pen work, a very good 09) black ink for pen work can be made by dissolving water soluble nigrosine dye in hot water, to which add a very small quantity of mucilage or gum water, and a few drops of alcohol, keep this well stirred and your ink troubles will be few. If the dye is not obtainable take a thin mixture of distemper lamp black, and add about -4 part of letterine — this is also good dope. Bis- sell's black, thinned with water will produce excellent results. Remember, constant stirring and proper dilution is the secret of good results from any ink that contains body pigment, if colors of this nature are allowed to settle they become worthless. The water and mucilage remain on the top and produce thin streaky non-covering lines. For pen white, take ordinary flake in distemper, add one-third Green Seal French Zinc, sufficient mucilage or gum water to prevent rubbing and finally, a few drops of alcohol, to cause it to flow freely, this mixture, kept well stirred up, will give better results than most prepared white inks. A good white pen ink is made by mixing zinc oxid (Chinese white) ground very fine with mucilage of tragacanth and adding a few drops of carbolic acid to preserve it. The ordinary natural position of the hand as in writing is the best. Use a combined forearm and finger movement; keep the flat part of the shoe evenly on surface, do not attempt to force a flow of ink by pressure. If the ink does not flow, it is too thick; if it flows too freely, it is too thin; if it does not cover thoroughly, it is not well stirred. A little judgment will regulate these matters. India ink imitation (China ink) : Mix finest lamp black, purified by washing with a weak solution of caustic soda and a little alcohol with a solution of ten parts brown shellac and three part borax dissolved in boiling water, adding ten parts ni- grosine black; strain thoroughly. Many letterers will condemn a brush or pen off hand; not realizing that the ink or color must positively be right and in the very best of condition to get good results, personally I have noticed in using pigment colorings, in any pen or brush, that the dope will evaporate, settle and thicken in a few hours, sufficiently to change the character of the work or the handling of the pen. The cause is easily remedied if the foreaoing suggestions be adopted. Never wipe any pen with a cloth, that spells disaster to the pen. It should be rinsed out like a brush in a dish of water kept conveniently handy, and if it is set aside and the color allowed to harden and cake up in the point or heel, use an old tooth brush dipped in water to clean it out. With ordinary care a "Speed Ball" pen can be used for months, but it is not a shovel, so do not dig it into the surface. That is unnecessary, it will ruin the pen and produce an inferior ragged quality of work. GORDON & GEORGE, Patentees of the "Speed Ball" Pen. (40) :^ tat 0) (0 g|.SW (4 «) i^ (Q ^ ci bo Sea (D c^ V) ^^^lE c ci oj D LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 013 953 887 6«