lost type
DESCRIPTION
A study of rural public typography.TRANSCRIPT
Lost TypeA Study of Rural Public Typography
Troy, Kansas
Fanning, Kansas
White Cloud, Kansas
PUBLIC TYPOGRAPHY EXISTS EVERYWHERE PEOPLE DO. Public type is
a necessary addition to any town, no matter the size. Public type ages,
decays, lives, and breathes inside the communities it was commis-
sioned to serve. Towns don’t always last, people don’t always need
them in the same ways they once did, and as times change the citizens
of a town may move on to places more suited to their needs. Whilst
a town may empty, dwindle, disappear, public typography does not.
Typography always remains behind, a reminder of the life a town once
had. What happens to this public type when glory days are long gone
and the purpose for existence is but a fl eeting memory?
A warm beginning.
3
1Main Street
1Troy
WELCOME TO TROY, KS POPULATION 1,010. The
ebb and fl ow of traffi c down Main Street is
consistent, except on Sundays. The public
typography found upon the local signage, is
not fancy, iconic, or particularly beautiful, but
it does serve its purpose. Simpson Hardware
has been out of business for many years, but
its elegant brick exterior is easily one of the
most lovely on Main Street.
Main Street
Simpson Hardware
has long stood at the
corner of Walnut and
Main in Troy, Kansas.
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“”
Situation, scale and material
can dictate the forms of the
letters themselves giving them
an unexpected beauty.
– Phil Baines
HistorySQUEEZED TIGHTLY ALONGSIDE the graceful and
old hardware store squats the Hair Corral.
Though the façade of the Hair Corral constantly
changes color, the sign has always stayed the
same. A typeface chosen to refl ect the salon’s
name, the letters have a distinct western fl air,
unmistakable from across the street, or across
the square. Stenciled in bright white against the
burnt orange face of the Hair Corral, this public
type exercises very little subtlety.
Though Standard Oil has
been out of business for
many years, Troy still
has one of the metal signs
from Standard’s past.
THE ONLY WORKING GAS STATION Davy’s
stands alone, guarded by a vintage
Standard Oil sign. The iconic sign
boasts a sans serif typeface in all
capital letters. The crisp navy font is
as bold and current as it was upon its
creation in 1940. Though Standard
Oil is long out of business and the
gas station has no need for the sign
anymore, it still stands untouched, a
landmark of sorts, marking the north-
ernmost point of Main Street. The
Standard Oil sign contrasts sharply
and beautifully to the modern signage
attached to the front of Davy’s. These
new signs glow fl ashily, incongruous
upon the weathered exterior of the
old gas station. The neon signs may
allude to a contemporary society, but
the Standard Oil sign seems more
suited to the surroundings, comfort-
able, beautiful, and timeless.
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The Western inspired
typography upon the
facade of the Hair Corral
has never changed since
its opening in 1984.
TROY, KANSAS geographically
located in the northeast corner
of the state, was incorporated on
October 12, 1855. The fi rst build-
ing erected was a blacksmith’s
shop, still standing and now
occupied by Dr. Dennis Meyers,
local dentist. Troy was the fi rst
stop along the Pony Express
route out of St Joseph, Missouri.
The brick sidewalks and streets
are on of Troy’s loveliest features.
These bricks were manufactured
in the late 1890’s south of Troy
in the town of Coffeyville.
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The alley behind Main
Street is full of neglected
signs and an unusual
variety of cast offs.
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SNAKING BEHIND MAINSTREET is one long dirt
and gravel alley. The alleyways in Troy
are not dark and frightening like some in
a larger city. Main Street in Troy refl ects
the quaint small town stereotype with tidy
buildings and fl owerpots. The alley behind
it however paints a much different picture.
Tucked away here is sloppy typography,
slapped upon wooden planks, garbage
cans, and even old vending machines.
No one loves or tends to this type; it lives
alone, quiet and unwanted. Is this typog-
raphy a harbinger of Troy’s future? Might
this alley be the unsettling segue between
bustling Main Street and dying town?
2Unincorporated
2Fanning
ONLY SIX MILES DOWN THE ROAD FROM TROY rests
Fanning. Fanning was never a large town, but as
the years move by so do the townspeople. With a
population of about thirty Fanning has gone from
a town, to unincorporated. An unincorporated
town is technically not even a town any longer,
but a “populated area” or township. The township
of Fanning clings to its typography, leftover from
a time when type was needed and many eyes
passed over it.
Unincorporated
Campbell’s gas station
usually harbors a
collection of tires and
ancient gas pumps.
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“”
The typographer has worked consistently
and quietly throughout time. We have also
called him scribe, calligrapher, brother,
abbe, and stonecutter. His lineage is long.
– Chris Meyers
THE MAIN STUCTURE IN FANNING IS CAMPBELL’S, an old gas
station without the actual petroleum. To a passerby
everything about Campbell’s is foreboding, the squat
brick building, the peeling paint, the dried up gas pumps,
and the ancient typography lurking under every eave.
Each sign is weathered and muted. A vintage Rainbow
Bread sign fades upon a screen door. Painted letters
peel away from the surface of hot metal gas pumps.
PEOPLE STILL DO VISIT THIS TYPOGRAPHY.
A stream of costumers stop by Camp-
bell’s every day. Strangely enough the
foreboding and decaying typography
does not stop these visitors in their
tracks. Visitors ignore the fact that the
Campbell’s Oil Co. is nearly unread-
able on a sign so rusted the type can
barely peek through. While the type
still serves its purpose the meaning
The typography of a
Rainbo Bread sign takes
on an interesting quality
as mesh from the screen
door pokes through.
and intent of the letters are still the
same. Having grown accustomed
to the faded words, the people of
Fanning are not deterred, but seem
to regard the woebegone typography
as friends. With purpose the public
type of Fanning still lives, but for how
much longer no one can tell.
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Clean sans serif typefaces
cover the front of abonded gas
pumps scattered in the weeds
surrounding Campell’s.
FANNING, KANSAS was
found in 1870 by Jesse Reed
and James Bradley. A train
depot was built the same year
along with a small post offi ce.
Fanning founder, Bradley
became the postmaster. Two
years later a fl ourmill was
constructed by a Mr. William
Hedrick. Fanning’s popula-
tion has declined steadily
but slightly in the last one
hundred years. In 1910 only
fi fty-four people were reported
living in the town.
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An elegant script
M is an unexpected
surprise among a sea
of retro typefaces.
Nostalgia
35
“
”
Today, we are nomads
again, members of unsettled
society. We roam in constant
communication with others
across fractured time spans.
We seem to be always
looking for acknowledgment
of ourselves; announcing
our arrivals, departures,
and potentional departures.
– Chris Meyers
3Ghost Town
3White Cloud
FURTHER DOWN THE ROAD HIDES WHITE CLOUD.
Now a ghost town, many years ago White
Cloud grew up as a stop for steamships on the
Missouri river. Local legend has it that Lewis
and Clark carved their names on a rock in a bluff
above the town. Though those names would be
a typographic treasure, White Cloud holds a few
gems still. The town is devoid of people but full
of empty houses and buildings. Nothing lives
here but weeds, rodents, and typography.
Ghost Town
Abandoned buildings mix
with signs, both covered
in typography crafted by
hands long gone.
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Forgotten
SOME OF THE SIGNS that appear in Troy and
Fanning crouch hidden in the weeds in
White Cloud too. The Rainbow Bread
sign pops up here over and over just
as it did in the other towns. The hands
that crafted this typography have
moved on. The typography is a road
map of sorts, a visual memory, and a
record of the people and of the times
in which it was created. A fi nal sign
stands at the exit of White Cloud. The
type is hand painted, friendly once, but
miserable now. “Come Back Soon,”
the sign says, calling to its people.
A message once intended for family
members and friends, the type has
taken on a completely different mean-
ing now that White Cloud is empty.
A wooden G barely
hangs on to a long
sign. The Green
Implement building
was erected in 1864.
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This dragline excavator was
once used to remove sand
and other material from the
depths of the Missouri river
WHITE CLOUD, KANSAS
was one of the earliest and
largest towns in the new Kansas
territory when it was founded
in 1857. Named after Chief
White Cloud of the Iowa people,
the land surrounding the town
belonged to the Iowa tribe.
White Cloud was a major stop
for steamships traveling down
the Missouri River. In 1883 the
town had four general stores,
three drug stores, two hotels,
and numerous other businesses.
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Each paint color on this
Pepsi Cola sign has run into
the other one, creating a
jumbled almost erie whole.
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“
”
Regional and professional
vernacular type and
images usually overlap,
since most signage tends to
be commercial in nature.
We also most often associate
‘true’ vernacular as coming
from rural areas.
– Paul Tosh
WE NEVER CRAFT TYPOGRAPHY, fresh and new, to be unappealing. The intent is
not to instill a sense of unease in the passerby. So while our typography is
still in use, brimming with life and purpose, it’s lovely. The type we leave
behind however is another story altogether. Why do we fi nd this lost type
so uncomfortable? Perhaps this typography is a shadow of all of us from
some other time. Lost type alone and forgotten.
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The last type.
Credits
Lost Type was typeset in Century Schoolbook and Univers. Lost Type was typeset in Century Schoolbook and Univers. Lost Type
All photos were taken with a Canon 40D the processed in
Adobe Photoshop.
Designer as Author, Patrick Dooley, Fall 2012
The University of Kansas
Sources
Baines, Phil, and Catherine Dixon. Signs: Lettering the
Environment. London: Laurence King Pub., 2008.
Tosh, Paul. “The Uncultured Word: Vernacular Typography
and Image.” (2007).
Meyers, Chris. The Value of the Narrative in the Education
of a Typographer.
Weiser, Kathy. “Kansas Legends.” Legends of America.
2003. www.legendsofamerica.com.