Comments on: The World's Safest Railroad

The World's Safest Railroad

tellurian — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 14:54:40 -0800

The Subway Sun and The Elevated Express &reswere posters used to inform passengers travelling on the IRT. A couple that tickled my fancy - the unlikely to happen Sociability Limit and an Obnoxious Custom. [via]

By: tellurian

tellurian — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 15:01:36 -0800

The blog entry also mentions a webcast, available from the New York Transit Museum.

Ivy Lee was a noted advertising man who early on worked on promoting the IRT subway. Transit Museum senior curator Charles Sachs and prominent public relations industry veteran Chester Burger talk about those early days of advertising and special promotions created to entice New Yorkers to the new subway system.

By: roger ackroyd

roger ackroyd — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 15:11:13 -0800

trains + t-rex = nerdgasm

By: subbes

subbes — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 15:11:15 -0800

Starting from the beginning and working forwards, I've so far seen nothing but issues pushing that "a five cent fare is not enough." Ahh, public relations.

By: Inspector.Gadget

Inspector.Gadget — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 15:26:08 -0800

Obnoxious Cellular Phone Users Remove yourselves from the gene pool immediately. - The Interborough Rapid Transit Company

By: steef

steef — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 16:15:19 -0800

Mundane as their messages are, these are glorious and alive.

By: hexatron

hexatron — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 16:40:18 -0800

I liked Meet Miss Subways where young women could have their fifteen minutes of fame for a whole month. Archeologists should be aware that the IRT lines are now mostly the 'number' trains.

By: tellurian

tellurian — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 16:46:27 -0800

Hey! that's great hexatron. Here's a then and now project.

By: millipede

millipede — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 17:29:18 -0800

this made my evening. thank you.

By: salishsea

salishsea — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 17:53:04 -0800

Very cool...I'm struck by how much this is like reading a blog.

By: ricochet biscuit

ricochet biscuit — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 18:14:11 -0800

Perhaps I am missing something, but I am not sure why readers are supposed to believe these are genuine. I am no expert, but these fonts look anachronistic.

By: mendel

mendel — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 20:37:25 -0800

Presumably the librarians at Princeton who manage the collection are experts, or at least are heavily encouraged by the University administration to not make a fool out of themselves and their library.

By: tellurian

tellurian — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 03:39:15 -0800

Perhaps I am missing something, but I am not sure why readers are supposed to believe these are genuine. I am no expert, but these fonts look anachronistic. Yes, you are missing something. You are no expert, these fonts are not anachronistic. A basic google of 1920s Advertising will bring up many examples of this use of font and typography and setting of such. In fact, a large part of the reason for my posting this site was my love and appreciation for the typography in this series of posters, as much as for the messages that they contained.

By: majick

majick — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 07:08:11 -0800

Alright, alright, you've worn me down. A five cent fare isn't sufficient despite what I might have thought yesterday. Let's raise it to a dime.

By: ricochet biscuit

ricochet biscuit — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 08:34:00 -0800

Fair enough; as I myself said, I am no expert. (Thank you for your condescension, though.) Could anyone be so good as to tell me what font that is on the Obnoxious Custom link?

By: tellurian

tellurian — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 05:59:33 -0800

I'm sorry if that came across as condescending, I didn't mean to be. I meant to come across as critical. Stating that you 'are no expert' and then making a fatuous statement deserves to be called out. Anyway, your request for font identification: 'FOR COMFORT' Bulletin-Regular 'One of our patrons writes' Century 751 No 2 Bold Italic 'We suggest also that' Cooper black Text that begins "What better" (minus the initial capital) - this isn't right, the 'e' is wrong, but it's the closest I could find*. Kennerley OSBQ-Regular *Bear in mind that some of the content may not have been typeset, in fact some of it may have been Letraset, or even hand lettered at a pinch, to meet a deadline. (Bromides would have been made and a plate generated from that). This is common for a large portion of retro material. 'Sometimes' you can spot the difference (and it's often interesting).