Lost Type PUBLIC TYPOGRAPHY

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.

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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

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“

”

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.