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Hockessin Fire Company earned the moniker “Home of the Autocar” when it specified famed truck maker’s chassis for its first new fire engine in 1938. The tradition continued until practicality forced the fire company to start standardizing its fleet with Spartan chassis in 1991. Hockessin’s last responding Autocar was a 1976 heavy rescue truck that was taken out of service in 2002. The company retained one of the distinctive chrome-grilled behemoths for its “funeral and parade” piece, a 1967 pumper with a howling Detroit 6-71 diesel and 10-speed Road Ranger transmission (yes, you use them all, in quick succession). This apparatus kept its 19-2 designation (Station 19, Engine 2) upon retirement.
As the soon to be former Hockessin Fire Company webmaster, “blind” messages to the default company email address come to me. Once such email was from a fire protection instructor from a small North Carolina community college looking for information on Autocar fire engines. It seems that “Home of the Autocar” came up on a Google search and he thought that we might be able to shed some light of the lineage of the 1961 Autocar pumper he was about to list on eBay. As I studied the attached photo of the auction-bound apparatus, a single gold-leaf beacon in the form of “19 4” stood out against a weather beaten background. A few phone calls to some Hockessin old-timers confirmed the identity of this beast as the “sister” of engine 19-2 mentioned in the previous paragraph.
With a few emotional appeals and a barter of surplus hydraulic extrication equipment, Engine 19-4 found itself limping the 500-odd miles up I-95 to rejoin its sibling. The fire house sits on Hockessin’s main thoroughfare, and it didn’t take long for word to get around town that an old friend and faithful firefighting partner had returned home. As long-time fire company members stopped by the station to pay their respects, 19-4’s weathered chrome grille seemed to reflect the years of heat, stress, heartache, humor, flames, flashovers and sweat in their faces.
Boy am I glad that my fire company predecessors had the foresight to hire a professional letterer and gilder!
Posted 2 days ago by Rich Roat in from-the-crates
Christian Schwartz sends this photo of Luxury Gold making an appropriate statement in Boston.
Posted 3 days ago by Rich Roat in Sightings
Josh was kind enough to send me a few of his “JAPAN ONLY” tiki mugs featuring a custom glazed Shag Lounge.
Posted 5 days ago by Andy Cruz in Sightings
Some of you may be wondering where the heck those new Studio Lettering font are, and you aren’t alone. Ken has a strict policy of extensive technical testing under a wide variety of conditions, so when our buddy Nate Kern needed some quick sponsor graphics for the R12S we thought that it would be a great opportunity to put one of the fonts through some rigorous trials. Nate reported excellent cornering…
...and increased horsepower.
Photos by Mikel and Andy Gronfor, GRON4 Photography
Posted 6 days ago by Rich Roat in Work-in-Progress
The Bronx lettering by David Dodde started with United as a template to cut an analog stencil.
Posted 8 days ago by Andy Cruz in Sightings
The ubiquitous “metal” lettering, post-apocalyptic sunset and land grid combo. Always in Fashion.
Posted 9 days ago by Andy Cruz in from-the-crates
Thanks to my gracious hosts in Oklahoma City, who patiently waited for me every time I stopped to take yet another sign picture, I collected a fair sampling of some great neon signage from the city. Seeing Paul Shaw’s article on neon signs in the latest issue of Baseline Magazine reminded me to share these gems.
Posted 12 days ago by Ben Kiel in from-the-crates
When there’s not a parking or other related logistical incident, I have the honor of sitting about 36 inches from House artist Chris Gardner and his merry collection of pencils, pens, brushes, inks, dessicated fruits and moldy takeout coffee cups. He originally penned the Gross 33 for House33 T-shirt graphics as well as for the liner of the “McFly” down vest. Most of that stuff is gone, but you can still experience richness of these eviscerations, lacerations and avulsions under the warm infra-red glow of your mouse. If you order more than 300 or so bucks worth of merchandise, Lou will most likely throw one of these in for free. Otherwise, pick one up here and bring a little Chris Garner close to you.
Posted 13 days ago by Rich Roat in House-Products
...with new stickers. Katie worked really hard on these and sweated the sticker guy to make sure that the die was formed perfectly to create the optimum artwork outline in order to promote maximum aerodynamic efficiency on high-performance self-propelled and human-powered vehicles. Be nice to Lou, because he’ll throw some freebees into your order.
Posted 15 days ago by Rich Roat in House-Products
My dad recently sent this to me. Further evidence that my parents are beginning to understand what it is I do for a living. Just kidding, Pop!
Posted 19 days ago by Ken Barber in from-the-crates
Older
Rich Roat will be saying a few words about The House Industries at FontShop’s 13th Annual TypoBerlin Design Conference on 31 May. The FontShop folks put on one of the best design conferences in the world. Definitely worth the trip!
Posted 13 days ago by Rich Roat in events
House type director and letterer, Ken Barber, will be conducting a three hour type and lettering workshop on May 18 at 9 AM at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston as part of HOW magazine’s annual design conference. Don’t sweat it if you can’t swing the price tag for the entire conference; you can just register for the workshop. Check out the HOW conference website for more info.
(Pre)Fab Faces: Designing with Your Own Ready-Made Letters
HOW Design Conference 2008
Sunday, May 18 at 9 AM
Hynes Convention Center
Boston, Massachusetts
Posted 19 days ago by Ken Barber in lectures
Ken’s Blaktur font and forthcoming Studio Lettering collection were honored by the Type Directors Club as part of the organization’s 2008 type design competition. Look for Studio Lettering, a collection of three handsome script faces, early this spring.
Posted 79 days ago by Ken Barber in About-House
Suitcase Fusion is placing arbitrary standards on naming and other technical data that is contained in the font. Our fonts are generated per Adobe’s standard and are fully functional in all current operating systems and software. We recommend bypassing Suitcase and installing the fonts directly in your Libraries:Fonts folder, turning off all the options under “Scan for corrupt fonts”, or choosing a different font management software.
Posted 93 days ago by Rich Roat in Font-Tech
When we started working on Neutraface in 1999, we took our first cues from the geometric lettering Richard Neutra specified for many of his commercial building designs. The challenge was to strike a balance between the sensibilities of Richard and his son, Dion, and the realities of the regimented world of typography. With the help of Christian Schwartz, we achieved this balance in what has become one of the most ubiquitous typefaces in today’s visual landscape.
Neutraface No. 2 is an extension of the Neutra legacy, where form and function meet at the nexus of practicality and versatility. It is by no means intended as an improvement or replacement of the original Neutraface, but as an expansion of the original concept. Neutra’s highly sought-after residential and commercial designs have stood the test of time, as will the typography that bears his name.
Posted 202 days ago by Rich Roat in House-Products