Circus Lettering
By Uncle Tim Heitkotter
Aloha, lettering fans! This month’s installment concerns Circus Lettering. Some of us call it “Outlaw” lettering. These are the styles that have a familiar 1800s kind of look to them. We have all seen plenty of Western movies, where we see these styles hanging proudly above saloon doors and hotel entranceways or emblazoned across the movie screen in the beginning credits, to announce the impending rustic adventure. Often drawn with ornate filigree surrounding them, these beauties were usually painted by travelling sign painters in gypsy-like wagons that also sold gadgets and “snake oil,” on the side. For you trivia buffs, this may have been the origin of the term “barnstormer.” Many of these wandering artisans were under contract to paint as many signs as they could to barn owners who sold their exposed barn sides to such companies as Mail Pouch Tobacco and Sears & Roebuck. I’m sure some of you have travelled the countryside and seen these decaying signs posted throughout middle America.
The easiest way understand how this lettering done is to notice that the thick and thin values in many Circus Letters are reversed. These are also called “Barnum-style” letters, as the one and only P.T. Barnum actually invented his own alphabet and popularized them with his famous circus events.
When we discussed thick-and-thin lettering before, I talked about how the thick strokes were either vertical or slanted, matching the angle of a salute, whereas the thin strokes are horizontal or opposing the angle of a salute. You accomplish this by laying out four lines spaced closely together, as in Example (A). The two pairs of lines provide the proper distance for the thin strokes to be drawn in. So, if we reverse the thick-and-thin values, we have the two pairs of lines spaced farther apart. This shows a dramatic change in the letters’ appearance.
Example (B): In this second example, you can either leave the serifs square, as with the “F,” or round them off, as with the “B,” depending on where you want a harder or softer appearance. Now, if you choose to spice them up, you can draw crowns on top of the letters or add them top and bottom, like Example (C). Just remember to be consistent. If you embellish one letter, you have to embellish them all the same way. Only slight variances are allowed to adjust to each individual letter and still maintain its integrity.
If you decide to embellish the sides of the letters, the same rule applies as in Example (D). There are several ways to accomplish these looks, but the basics are laid out, so you can understand why they look the way they do.
Remember to hold your pencil light and have fun!
Faithful servant to the trade,
—Uncle Tim
