Archived entries for American Wood Type Mfg. Co.
Specimen Sunday Twofer
American Printing Equipment Complete 1966–1967 Type Catalog,
text page 5
American Printing Equipment Complete 1966–1967 Type Catalog,
text page 6
12 line Shadow
I got mine. The Rob Roy Kelly American Wood Type Collection TypeLab got theirs. . . what are you waiting for? New end grain, router cut fonts of Shadow available now from Virgin Wood Type.
Specimen Sunday
American Printing Equipment Complete 1966–1967 Type Catalog, inside front cover
The rhetorical tone of this statement coupled with this cropping reminds me of a delicious typographic fortune cookie.
12 line Shadow
Shadow was the American Wood Type Manufacturing Company’s version of Umbra, designed in 1932 by Robert Hunter Middleton for the Ludlow Typograph Company, Chicago. This 12 line font was purchased in 2010 from Virgin Wood Type. The majority of the blocks were new old stock. To complete the font, Bill Jones cut the missing characters from the AWT patterns.
Specimen Sunday
Page 3 from the American Wood Type Mfg. Co. Catalog No. 36. Wondering what that sweet script/cursive face is that’s being used for the running headers and face identification? Oddly enough, it’s called Gillies Gothic. Working on building your letterpress library? Here’s a free high res download.
Specimen Sunday
Page 2 from the American Wood Type Mfg. Co. Catalog No. 36. The tipped in list with prices effective August 1, 1950 seems to indicate that AWT used this catalog for at least 14–15 years. For the collectors out there, here’s a link to a high res download.
Specimen Sunday
You want to see more of the 1936 American Wood Type Mfg. Co. specimen/catalog? Ok, but only because you asked nicely. High resolution image available here.
Specimen Sunday
This oversized (10.25 x 13.75 inch) American Wood Type Mfg. Co. specimen/catalog from 1936 is a beauty. High resolution image available here, because Letterpress Daily loves you.
I ♥ Wood Type
This one’s for you Paul Brown.
Thanks to Bill Jones, proprietor of Virgin Wood Type, for the inspiration to make this special Valentine’s Day post and for confirming my suspicions that American Wood Type was the manufacturer.
Specimen Sunday
American Wood Type Mfg. Co. 1937 price list, recto
This price list was included with the recently acquired Catalog No. 36.
Metal type cabinets with 23 California Job cases and an angled work top for $83.50 – I’d be ecstatic to see a return to those prices!

















