2023-04-14 | Vtg Stencil Bradley 075
The slab serif Roman typeface of the first stencil machine.
Check out Vtg Stencil Bradley 075 font!
In the last 120 years, there have only been four companies that have manufactured mechanical, hand-operated stencil machines for marking.
They were Bradley (1893), Diagraph (1902), Ideal (1911) and Marsh (1922).
Two of these companies (Marsh and Diagraph) are still operating today and manufacture manual stencil machines.
The world's first stencil machine was produced by the Bradley Stencil Machine Company in 1894 and featured a somewhat unique 3/4-inch Roman slab serif typeface.
This typeface was adapted to Bradley's smaller ½ inch machines and later to the bigger models with 1 ¼ and 1 ½ inch typefaces - of course with some design changes.
From a type design historical perspective, this typeface bridged the gap between the traditional Roman design of stencils and the Gothic design of later stencil machines.
The Bradley company was accquired in 1936 by the Diagraph Stencil Machine Corp.
As a result, information about the Bradley company and its machines is very rare today.
Bradley stencil machines in working condition are now museum pieces.
However, they were very popular and widely used for marking 100 years ago.
Why is the font called "Bradley 075"?
The 075 indicates the original type size in inches for this machine.
We are looking for typeface specimens of Bradley's ½ and 1 ½ inch machines - so we can round up the font collection.
But for now we are very pleased to release this ¾ inch typeface as a font.
Have fun with the Vintage!
Nerd Alert: If you want to take a deep dive into the history of the Bradley company, check out the Bradley Memorial page that we have set up!
