Panther-Modelle product catalog by A. Atmanspacher (1939)
Selling shoes and boots in 1939, at the brink of World War II.
Neue moderne Grotesk, also known as Aurora-Grotesk among many other names, was used in several weights for a catalog listing the products of A. Atmanspacher.
The company was founded by Albin Atmanspacher (1859–1946) in 1887. In 1903 the shoe manufacturer established the Panther brand. See a previous catalog (in more sophisticated design) from 1910, and a poster designed by Ludwig Hohlwein from around 1925. The panther illustration on the catalog from 1939 likewise is signed by Hohlwein – a poster artist deeply involved with the Nazis. In a totalitarian state, not even shoes are left untainted: The slogan that previously read der gute Panther-Schuh (“the good Panther shoe”) was updated to “the good German Panther-Schuh”.
The factory in Ehrenfriedersdorf near Zschopau, Saxony was heavily damaged in the war. After reconstruction, the production was continued in the GDR under the name VEB Schuhfabrik Panther Ehrenfriedersdorf. [Landesamt für Denkmalpflege]
The modulated sans with monocular a used on the 1940/IV addendum is Kräftige Mendelssohn-Grotesk (Schriftguss, 1930s) by local artist Georg Mendelssohn from Dresden. The letterhead at the top left features blackletter and sans-serif lettering (not type).
Neue moderne Grotesk is paired with Romanisch or similar.
