J.W. Raab junior invoice, 1924

This week’s invoice concludes the mini set within the bigger series. It’s the third one that shows a Jugendstil typeface from the first years of the 20th century used in the 1920s. Following Mars and Langschrift, this time we get to see Radium.

The angular sans serif with flared stem endings was designed in-house at Ludwig & Mayer and first cast in 1904. It’s not to be confused with the negative face of the same name issued by Schelter & Giesecke a year later. “Radium” was all the rage after Marie and Pierre Curie were awarded the Nobel Prize in 1903, following their discovery of the chemical element in 1898. When the Art Nouveau look came back in fashion in the 1960s, Ludwig & Mayer issued a reworked version. By then, radium didn’t have the same upbeat ring to it anymore, so the revival was renamed to Charleston.

The invoice from J.W. Raab junior’s factory for wine and spirit vinegars shows both weights of Radium. The character set does include numerals, but for some reason, they were not used here. Maybe the printer hadn’t purchased the sorts?

Among the secondary choices, there is De Vinne Italic (“Nürnberg”, “feinst prima”), which was available in Germany from numerous foundries and under various names, including Romanisch-Kursiv halbfett (A.-G. f. Schriftgießerei, Ludwig & Mayer, Stempel), Elzevir-Kursiv halbfett (Berthold, Bauer), or Antike Kursiv halbfett (Genzsch & Heyse); and an unidentified face that appears to be a version of Bookman Italic. The rubberstamp combines a Ronde and an Italienne.