Slab Serif circa 1940- Dreamland Theatre

Chipman223's picture

Hi, I'm looking for this really really old typeface (DREAMLAND THEATER). It may very well be custom/handlettered and non-existent now. My company is designing an identity package for them (post-renovations), and they want something that kind of throws back to this, but not a copy. Currently, I'm using Fairplex Wide in my sketches. I would appreciate any suggestions as well.

jazzhustler's picture

www.letterheadfonts.com is always a good bet as far as 20th century fonts are concerned.

JH

Jan's picture

Letterheadfonts?

Read this!

jazzhustler's picture

I have read the article and knew about this ages ago, but it doesn't make any difference to the fact that they do great fonts.

read this - http://typophile.com/node/44314

JH

Charles Leonard's picture

Of course it was hand lettered. The irregularity of the repeated letters shows that. The charm of the sign is in the uneven spacing and stroke modulations. I don't have any face suggestions other than reviewing older type catalogs and seriously considering drawing your own version. The films are circa 1945. Bon chance.

Jan's picture

Yeah, JH. That’s the thread I got it from.
And yes, they do great fonts. But I wouldn’t buy any from them.

Charles Leonard's picture

You might also look at Colin Brignall's Italia.

Chipman223's picture

@ Charles
I Assumed it probably was handlettered. Unfortunately, the time table doesn't allow me to redesign it. I guess I should have emphasized the "updated" part more. The part i love most is the All talking, All singing, All dancing. We're going to try to convince them to keep it on the marquee. The photograph itself was dated circa 1940-44, so i guess the movies back that up!

@Simon
Those are indeed some great retro fonts. Thanks!

I commented on the other thread about Letterfonts, but any more suggestions would be appreciated.

malbright's picture

By the way, Letterhead Fonts no longer requires a special installer and all that junk—they scrapped that idea. But, there are two things Chuck does differently than most. One, they embed your name in the font so it can be tracked; and two, you need to convert their fonts to outlines before you send them off into the wilderness so they cannot be extracted from a pdf or otherwise pirated. Since most of their fonts are for display, I don't see this as a huge hurdle, and if it keeps a small, wonderful foundry going, then so be it. Chuck, the proprietor, is a great guy and offers fantastic support. I think that it's been very heartbreaking for him to see his fonts pirated all over the place. So I would say, don't be wary of using Letterhead Fonts.

Chipman223's picture

I declare this thread hijacked.

Thanks for the suggestions Charles and Simon.

malbright's picture

Sorry about that. Didn't mean to do any hijacking. Just wanted to put some minds at ease, perhaps.

Cheers.

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