Van Dyke Parks – “Come to the Sunshine” / “Farther Along” single cover
Contributed by John Sellards on Oct 28th, 2020. Artwork published in
November 2013
.
Photo: John Sellards. License: All Rights Reserved.
I’ve been somewhat obsessed with the Ringling Brothers face for years and have collected most of the letters (which can vary a bit from vendor to vendor) and reconstituted my own set, which I used several years ago on this Van Dyke Parks 45 sleeve.
The single record, with a 1966 recording by Parks, was published at the occasion of Record Store Day 2013.
3 Comments on “Van Dyke Parks – “Come to the Sunshine” / “Farther Along” single cover”
Thanks for this fine addition, John!
Now I’m curious: Where have you spotted Ringling Brothers, other than in catalogs by Photo-Lettering? My understanding is that it originated at the typesetting studio in New York, as a rounder and bolder rendition of an alphabet shown by Chicago-based lettering artist J.M. Bergling in his Art Alphabets & Lettering from 1914. Photo-Lettering also had a direct adaptation of Bergling’s alphabet, under the name Xenotype 3487, aka Staudel Xenotype K. I have posted in-use examples for both, see Ringling Brothers in use for a series of paperbacks by Fritz Leiber, and Staudel Xenotype K for Buddah Records.
It’s on a number of 60s-vintage LP jackets, plus a 70s-era Disney kids book (“The Jungle Book”) among others. All of which, I think, ultimately come from Xenotype 3488. The letters I use have come from just about anything I could get my hands on, and I still don’t have all the characters.
I see – thanks, John! When I come across more good Uses of Ringling Brothers, I’ll definitely post them to Fonts In Use.