Lachenal instrument number typeface

[Rod Pearce]

Does anyone know the typeface /' size used by Lachenal for their later instruments, specifically the instrument number label? IT looks a bit like Times New Roman, but the tails on the round numbers aren't rounded enough

 

I need to recreate the label which in not salvageable.

 

The instrument serial number is 199655.

 

Thanks in anticipation

 

Rod

[Don Taylor]

Could it be Caslon?  I don't have a Lachenal image to compare against, but Caslon was a very common font in the UK before TR.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caslon

 

Edited March 29, 2021 by Don Taylor
typo

[Rod Pearce]

Don

Thanks for your reply..I have looked at the Caslon typeface, and I don't think it is that as the numbers don't look rounded enough.

I have tried some examples using MS Word and have come up with a few that seem to fit pretty well. My favourite is Sans Serif, so I think I will go with that.

196655    Times New Roman

196655   MS Sans Serif

196655    Franklin Gothic medium

196655   Century

 

[Peter Smith]

In the past, I have used Calibri (light) 196655 - but that also does not look quite right!

I would be interested to know what others suggest.

Peter

[alex_holden]

They may have used the Victorian equivalent of one of these:

https://www.customstampsonline.com/product/6-band-line-numberer

To get a more authentic look, you might separate out the digits and jiggle them up and down a tiny bit so they aren't perfectly on the baseline.

[Mike Jones]

The nearest typeface  I can find is Lisong Pro , the seriphs are more like Lachenals than most I looked at, but as Alex Holden points out the numbers are perfectly in line so don't look terribly authentic

[Rod Pearce]

Thanks Mike. I can't find Lisong Pro either but.......................

 

How about this one? Clarendon Light BT. Wikipedia says it was created in 1845, so would have been around when the instruments were being made.  I prefer it to my previous choice

 

 

1234567890  Clarendon Light BT

[gcoover]

Have you tried the "What the Font" iPhone app? It's usually pretty good about suggesting typefaces, just be sure to take a photo of a piece of text with something that might be fairly distinctive, like the letters g, a, etc.

 

Gary

[Rod Pearce]

Gary

Thanks for your suggestion. Unfortunately I don';t have the text to hand as it was ruined prior to renovation. I am going from memory and what I can see from pictures on the internet, If I can find one with enough numbers and definition I will try your suggestion.

 

Regards

Rod

[David Barnert]

Note that the font examples presented in the above posts may not render accurately on all computer screens. I am using a Mac with up-to-date MacOS (11.2.3) and what is called Times New Roman appears as Helvetica (and, of course, Times New Roman is resident on my Mac), Franklin Gothic medium, Century,  and Clarendon Light BT show as Times, and Calibri (light) shows as Helvetica Bold.

[David Barnert]

Even though you don’t need a 4, you might search for a font that has this distinctive 4 in it:

 

 

(Image taken from https://www.concertinamuseum.com/CM00283.htm.)

 

The only font on my Mac that has the vertical slash at the right end of the 4 is Bodoni, but it is clearly wrong for other reasons.

 

(Screen shot, not active font)

[Jim2010]

Maybe the method used to recreate the  Lachenal English, number 60325 (1930s) [link below] could be used to produce other labels and the corresponding numbers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0, which could be digitally manipulated (cut and paste) to create any necessary number.

 

https://www.concertina.net/forums/index.php?/topic/19025-items-from-the-concertina-museum-page/&tab=comments#comment-179611

[d.elliott]

I have tried many fonts, most of those above, but 'Special Elite in Bold'  is the closest I have found. 

 

special elite.tiffspecial elite.tiff

[Theo]

I have a hunch that an old manual typewriter might give the right appearance.

[David Barnert]

5 hours ago, d.elliott said:

I have tried many fonts, most of those above, but 'Special Elite in Bold'  is the closest I have found.

 

It certainly seems a reasonable match. But I notice Special Elite doesn’t have the flanged “4” that we see printed on the label of #6946, above, so there are likely other subtle differences between what Special Elite in Bold provides and what is found printed on Lachenal SN labels.

 

I wonder if the thing to do isn’t to take or find photographs of Lachenal serial numbers until you have collected a 1, a 9, a 6, and a 5 (I’ve given you the 6 and 9, above) and then use photoshop to duplicate the 9 and the 5, make them all the same shade, size and resolution, put them in the right order and “jiggle them up and down a tiny bit” (as suggested by Alex) to make a printable label.

[gcoover]

Adobe's Typeka Regular font is really close on the other numbers, only lacking the flange on the 4.

 

Gary

 

[Paul_Hardy]

Relevant fonts in use in the 19th Century include these:

 

Ones with a serif on the 4 include Bell, Bodoni, and Goudy.

 

I've used Bell before for an 'old' feel label (first cut in 1788).

 

As others have said, the shapes used by Lachenal may not have been a standard general purpose font, but a specific numbers-only machine.

 

If people want to know more about fonts and typefaces, I recommend "The Elements of Typographical Style" by Robert Bringhurst. A fascinating if eccentric read is "Stop Stealing Sheep & find out how type works" by Spiekermann & Ginger.

 

These were on my bookshelf from years ago when I was programming typesetting of labels on digital maps, but both are still relevant.