Here’s a look at a few dozen type styles from the first part of the 20th century — including a few old-fashioned fonts that have stood the test of time.
Antique newspaper typefaces – Old font styles
Assorted antique two-color typefaces
Assortment of two-color type styles from the 1900s
Calligraphy newspaper heading typeface
Old-fashioned Alphabet typefaces
Alphabet is ever-changing (1913)
The North Platte Semi-Weekly Tribune (North Platte, Neb.) October 24, 1913
Painters cause certain letters to assume new shapes, cultivating the artistic side of the trade.
Alphabets are suffering a change of form at the hands of modern sign painters, remarks the Philadelphia Record.
For many years, letters have held certain distinct forms, which gave them their names and classes. Sign painters, however, are cultivating the artistic side of their trade, and from various signs displayed all over the city, there seems to be a great unanimity of opinion among them as to the appearance of certain letters in one of the alphabets.
This new idea seems to be a tendency to fill in and “balance” blank spaces. It was first to be observed on the letter “L.” The painter saw fit to add a frill about the middle of the space between the base and the upright.
Next the letter “O” of the series was attacked, and the ornamentation went in the middle, making the familiar letter resemble an old Greek “theta.” “A” and “V” and “Q” have been the latest to be touched up.
If the idea spreads much further, the entire alphabet will change its face.
Old-fashioned fonts Alphabet typefaces
Title Litho Roman old-fashioned fonts
Vintage Longfellow typeface
Vintage newspaper typefaces
Vintage newspaper headings typeface
Vintage novelty typeface
Vintage print type styles – Longfellow series font
Antique condensed type
Antique newspaper heading typefaces
Antique newspaper headline type styles
Camelot old style typeface
Classic vintage font – Rubens series
Condensed series old-fashioned fonts
Erebus series typeface
Formal script font typefaces from the 1900s
Foster Gothic typeface
Harper series typeface
Kitcat series typeface
Lightface and condensed antique newspaper headline fonts
Makart typeface
Old calligraphic script for newspaper headlines
Old newspaper heading styles of old-fashioned fonts
Old-fashioned Atlanta font face
Old-fashioned newspaper headline styles
Old-fashioned newspaper headline type
Old-West style Egyptian extra condensed typeface
Polo series typeface
Ramona series typeface
Real vintage typefaces and type styles
Retro Rubens typeface
Roundhead series typeface
Vertical writing antique typeface
Shepard script typeface
Stencil and Aquatint antique type styles
