Here's a quiz for those who've been involved in the sign business, and could be considered to be veterans of the trade:
What significance do the following numbers have, and how do they relate to the sign business ?
7 , 11 , 14, 22, 28, 44
If I were a betting man, I suspect that Raymond Chapman, Bruce Bowers, or Rick Sacks will be the guys who might provide the correct answer.
Posted by Si Allen (Member # 420) on :
Showcard sizes.
Posted by Rick Sacks (Member # 379) on :
those are the breakdowns of a 44"x28" card
Posted by Dave Draper (Member # 102) on :
Well, hmmmm, I got that wrong!
7...was the age I lettered my first truck with a rock and scratched "Just Married" into the paint. (I didn't get paid for that one)
11... was the first time I got to help the old sign painter in town clean his shop.
14....I was making posters and banners for the school dances, football games and marching band
22...I was writing a sign with my lawnmower in the park that said; "MARRY ME, CINDY"...(and she did)
28...I was in my own sign business "Draper and Daughter Signs
44...I was still in business but now had four sons...Draper and Sons Signs? NO...Draper the Signmaker...which turned into 7D Signs ( My Wife, Me and 5 kids = 7 Drapers or 7D
LOL I like this puzzel Ken, and I'm glad you didn't bet on me!
[ January 30, 2018, 09:06 PM: Message edited by: Dave Draper ]
Posted by Jean Shimp (Member # 198) on :
OK, I'll play... what is the significance of this number? 00
Posted by Ken Henry (Member # 598) on :
Hi guys. Thanks for the responses. I'd forgotten that Si, our resident dinosaur had been around long enough to remember what a showcard was. Rick Sacks, knew the answer, as I suspected he would.
Do they even make showcard board anymore ? In Canada, the manufacturer was Peterborough Cardboards, and they no longer make showcard board and have shifted their production to picture framing mat boards. When coroplast & polystyrene plastics entered the market as alternative substrates, the demand for those grew to the point where showcard board wasn't an item in high demand.
There are other long-gone materials that were commonly used to make signs. Anyone remember cotton muslim, canvas banners with the rope sewn in ? How about masonite panels, King Cole Black, or tubes of white lead ?
Posted by Ken Henry (Member # 598) on :
Hi Jean. The 00 numeral is the size designation of the smaller quills or brushes. It was also used to denote the size of some of the Speedball pen nibs.
Posted by Si Allen (Member # 420) on :
( Anyone remember cotton muslin, canvas banners with the rope sewn in ? How about masonite panels, King Cole Black, or tubes of white lead ?)
Yup! Used all of them except King Cole Black ... used DuPont Dulux Automotive black.
It was sold covering, long lasting and flower off your quill like a dream.
Posted by Jean Shimp (Member # 198) on :
Ken, although that is true, that's not what I was referring to. The 00 was used for something else also, not brush related.
Posted by Kevin W. Betz (Member # 4133) on :
Steel Wool ?
Posted by Ken Henry (Member # 598) on :
Well, I've racked my brain, and that's a chore and a half these days. The only other answer that I could come up with is this: 00 was the size of the clear gelatin capsuls that was used to make a water guild gold size. This was before the gelatin became available in sheets, and the method of measurement changed. If that's the correct answer, that really does go back in time.
Posted by Rick Sacks (Member # 379) on :
Crescent Board was the sho card manufacturer we used, and Crown Tempera.
Posted by Raymond Chapman (Member # 361) on :
Well, the rest of the guys beat me to it...but they are show card sizes. Literally, thousands done over the past 60 years. Rich Art Moist Water Color on Crescent Board. Layout done in white chalk (mostly dark cards) and lines cleaned off with a dry, soft chamois. Spray fixative used on cards that might be touched or had to be up for an extended time. Colors were mixed and put into 35mm camera film canisters. Lettering done with red sable brushes. I still use two sable brushes given to me by my brother on my 12th birthday...62 years ago.
Great memories of late nights and being lost in the feel of the brush on the card. The brush became an extension of your hand and took on a life of its own. Loose layouts and quick letter styles (now called fonts).
My favorite type of work in all the various things that made up a "sign painter".
Posted by Jean Shimp (Member # 198) on :
Correct Ken, 00 is the capsule size for water gilding.
Posted by Si Allen (Member # 420) on :
Jean .....
I think that I still have about 1/2 a box of them stashed somewhere!
[ February 01, 2018, 12:42 PM: Message edited by: Si Allen ]
Posted by Ken Henry (Member # 598) on :
The older the capsules, the longer they take to disolve. For whatever reason, the old ones get hard & brittle, so that 1/2 box you have Si will probably dissolve by next summer, if you get a batch of size started now.
Last time I bought a box of those from a local pharmacy, I also got a glass syringe so that I could use it for cementing acrylic letters onto a bronze plexi background. The pharmacist must have suspected that I was somehow involved with illicit drugs, because I got a visit from the RCMP shortly thereafter, wanting to know the purpose of my purchases.
Posted by Rick Sacks (Member # 379) on :
Last time I went to the pharmacy to get gelatine capsules they asked if I wanted animal or vegetable?
Posted by Rick Sacks (Member # 379) on :
anyone else have fond memories of using RK190?
Posted by David Harding (Member # 108) on :
Raymond,
The next question will be:
What's 35mm film?
Posted by Raymond Chapman (Member # 361) on :
Like Si, I still have a box of those capsules. For the past years I have been using Rick Glawson's diamond shaped sheets. Still have some King Cole Coal Black back up, too. Old Timers never throw anything away.
Posted by Jean Shimp (Member # 198) on :
I too remember having to explain to the pharmacy that I was making gold leaf size - not dealing in illicit drugs. By the time I finished explaining the gold leafing process they were so confused, they were glad to see me go.
Posted by Kevin W. Betz (Member # 4133) on :
What is Chicken Scratching a Letter ?
Posted by John Byrd (Member # 825) on :
chicken scratching in my area was a loose layout with a stabilo, charcoal vine, chalk or china marker. Drag your horizontal lines with a yard stick (drag a line) and loosely write in your verbage. This reminds me of a want ad I read in the paper many years ago when I was just deciding that I wanted to be a sign painter by a sign company that said in it somewhere "if you don't know what the term 'drag a line is, then don't bother showing up!'" and I remember thinking that I have to find out what this means!
[ February 03, 2018, 10:05 AM: Message edited by: John Byrd ]
Posted by Rick Beisiegel (Member # 3723) on :
quote:Originally posted by Dave Draper: Well, hmmmm, I got that wrong!
7...was the age I lettered my first truck with a rock and scratched "Just Married" into the paint. (I didn't get paid for that one)
11... was the first time I got to help the old sign painter in town clean his shop.
14....I was making posters and banners for the school dances, football games and marching band
22...I was writing a sign with my lawnmower in the park that said; "MARRY ME, CINDY"...(and she did)
28...I was in my own sign business "Draper and Daughter Signs
44...I was still in business but now had four sons...Draper and Sons Signs? NO...Draper the Signmaker...which turned into 7D Signs ( My Wife, Me and 5 kids = 7 Drapers or 7D
LOL I like this puzzel Ken, and I'm glad you didn't bet on me!
Draper, great response. Made my day!
Posted by Bruce Bowers (Member # 892) on :
I knew the answer straight away... Crescent Board was the best.
Posted by Dennis Kiernan (Member # 12202) on :
Well, since I'm an oil painter, I still use masonite panels and tubes of white lead all the time.
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