Dean Martin & Jackie Gleason – Merry Music Christmas album art
This Christmas-themed album by Jackie Gleason and Dean Martin was released fifty years ago, on the Special Markets label by Capitol Records.
The typeface chosen by cover designer Roy Kohara then was already eight-five years old: it’s Gutenberg, a design by the prolific Herman Ihlenburg and patented for MacKellar, Smiths & Jordan in 1888. Like Art Gothic (Central, 1887) and Cabinet (BB&S, 1888), Gutenberg is of low contrast, with many angled stems and descending glyphs. The decorative dots are another typical period feature, see for example Kismet (Boston, 1879). When used in all caps as for the album title, the Victorian face turns into spaghetti salad.
The illustration is by Seiko Kashihara.
18 point Gutenberg with ornaments from Combination Border, Series 97 as shown in a specimen from around 1892
