When master letterer Hugh Gordon and his student, Ross F. George developed a set of lettering pens between June 16, 1913 and Sept. 1, 1914, they had no idea that their invention (which they named Speed-Ball®) would still be in use nearly a hundred years later.

The C. Howard Hunt pen company [originally of Camden, New Jersey] became the original (and sole) distributor of these pens.

By 1915 an instructional booklet entitled “Modern Pen Lettering” was produced, and it was copiously illustrated with examples of layouts, lettering techniques and an assortment of alphabets for the user to learn.

Nouveau Poster JNL is Jeff Levine’s interpretation of a sanserif design found within the pages of this vintage publication.