Freemasons menu
“Freemasons menu, folded to resemble a Masonic apron.” — Sarah Hyndman visiting the British Menu Archive at the British Museum of Food.
Of the many ornate roman typefaces of the late 19th century, Dado is unusual in that it has a horizontal (or reversed) stress axis. It appears in MacKellar, Smiths & Jordan’s 1885 catalog (below) where it is shown as patented in 1882. The designer is assumed to be Herman Ihlenberg, as it is for so many of these MS&J faces.
The name is quite appropriate if it references the architectural terms for the lower part of a wall and the rail/molding that divides it. The heavy stroke at the face’s x-height forms something of a dado rail along a line of letters.
1885 MacKellar, Smiths & Jordan catalog, page 376a.
1892 MacKellar, Smiths & Jordan catalog, page 260.
This typeface was included in a 1966 Tri-Arts Specimen. Can you imagine?