Low-waisted Hs are not unknown in lettering by architects of that vintage (though admittedly especially high-waisted Hs are more common, and in any event the E always follows suit)
I feel like I don't have the vocabulary to adequately express how thrilling it was to read this post. I know very little about FLW, Unitarians, or architecture but a single upside down letter on a building - I'm so in.
As a proofreader, it is incumbent upon me to point out that there's extra word space between "and" and "the"(!). I would also tighten up the kerning in "SE."
Another oddity in Jonathan’s photo early in your piece… The letters appear to have drilled holes in them, presumably intended for affixing directly to the wall (or possibly to shallow posts behind the letters, if intended to sit slightly off the wall).
However, the photo does not seem to show any fasteners in/over these holes… Suggesting that they may have been applied with an epoxy or other glue?
Weird that holes would be drilled but not used.
Also, it looks like the holes in the Hs are symmetrically placed, making it more possible for them to be flipped over to fit existing holes.
I guess it’s possible that there’s some very shallow, perfectly-sunk pin in those small black holes, ones that are holding the letters in place without not protruding from the faces—but it’s hard to really see. I’ll have to wait for the next post!
I find it very interesting that the "H" would be placed upside-down when the ghost image of the letters were there on the wall. Of course there are many examples of workers placing tiles, access plates, etc in the wrong way even when they are painted or clearly meant to be placed in a specific way.
Low-waisted Hs are not unknown in lettering by architects of that vintage (though admittedly especially high-waisted Hs are more common, and in any event the E always follows suit)
That's why I included FLW's original drawing -- to show that his intent was a high-waisted H.
Interesting find, then the whole plot gets crazy!
I feel like I don't have the vocabulary to adequately express how thrilling it was to read this post. I know very little about FLW, Unitarians, or architecture but a single upside down letter on a building - I'm so in.
As a proofreader, it is incumbent upon me to point out that there's extra word space between "and" and "the"(!). I would also tighten up the kerning in "SE."
Yes, I agree that some of the kerning is less than ideal. But I chose not to get into that, so as to keep our focus on the letter orientations!
As a graphic designer, that's the first mistake I saw, and assumed that's what you were going to address.
This was a riveting (ugh, sorry) read, Paul! I gasped at the 1956 twist!
Another oddity in Jonathan’s photo early in your piece… The letters appear to have drilled holes in them, presumably intended for affixing directly to the wall (or possibly to shallow posts behind the letters, if intended to sit slightly off the wall).
However, the photo does not seem to show any fasteners in/over these holes… Suggesting that they may have been applied with an epoxy or other glue?
Weird that holes would be drilled but not used.
Also, it looks like the holes in the Hs are symmetrically placed, making it more possible for them to be flipped over to fit existing holes.
I will have more info on how the letters are affixed in tomorrow's post.
I guess it’s possible that there’s some very shallow, perfectly-sunk pin in those small black holes, ones that are holding the letters in place without not protruding from the faces—but it’s hard to really see. I’ll have to wait for the next post!
I find it very interesting that the "H" would be placed upside-down when the ghost image of the letters were there on the wall. Of course there are many examples of workers placing tiles, access plates, etc in the wrong way even when they are painted or clearly meant to be placed in a specific way.
HUH?