Space City News, vol. 1, no. 1 (Jun 5 1969)
The first edition cover of Space City News with Annlie Italic and Berthold-Grotesk Bold with its alternate a and w. “20 ¢” is added in Bulletin Typewriter.
Space City News was a short-lived (1969–1972) “New Left” newspaper in Houston, Texas. It focused on the pressing issues of the time, from the Vietnam War and nationwide struggle for civil rights, to police brutality and other matters central to the revolutionary reader base of the time (akin to publications like The Great Speckled Bird and The Chicago Seed), while also spotlighting local issues and artistry.
Notable stories of the first issue include William F. Buckley’s acquisition of local black Houston radio, labor strike coverage, the inadequacies of Texas State welfare program, and – the biggest story – the People’s Park uprising in Berkeley and subsequent police brutality against those protesting the University of California’s desire to turn it into a soccer field.
The first edition was dedicated to Pancho Villa, a general of the Mexican Revolution.
Spread with pages 2 and 3, with headlines in Bulletin Typewriter (left) and Twentieth Century Ultrabold Extended (right).
Detail from page 5, with Playbill and Berthold-Grotesk Bold. The typewriter face seen below is in a Cubic style. Lukas Krakora’s digital Aachen Typewriter comes close.
Spread with pages 6 and 7, Cooper Black (top left) and the Light weight of Berthold-Grotesk (“dallas goon squads of yore”).
Spread with pages 18 and 19, with Cooper Black (left) and headlines in Futura Bold Oblique (or maybe Spartan Black Italic) for “Rocky & Warhol?”, Futura Condensed for “grand jury”, and an unidentified face for “Kindergarten”.
Detail from page 19 with Franklin Gothic Extra Condensed, lettering, and an unidentified typewriter style
Detail from page 19 with contoured Cooper Black and Futura Display for “art cinema”
Detail from page 20 with Ultra Bodoni Extra Condensed and Cheltenham Bold Extra Condensed
Detail from page 23 with “space city news” in Playbill
1 Comment on “Space City News, vol. 1, no. 1 (Jun 5 1969)”
Thank you for this contribution!
Like similar underground publications from this period, the production of Space City News combines a range of typographic techniques, including various typewriters, hand lettering, dry transfer type, possibly phototypesetting, and more.
Annlie was a Letraset original issued in 1966. The jumpy lines in Berthold-Grotesk suggests that they were composed with rubdown type, too. Chartpak showed such an adaptation as Simplex Bold (Simplex was Olive’s name for Berthold-Grotesk) in a 1965 catalog.
I’ve added a couple of IDs in addition to those you already found. I didn’t look deeper into the typewritten text – if anyone has any insights into those, let us know.
Same goes for the bold condensed sans that appears in a number of headlines, but is eluding me. It’s not Railroad Gothic, see e.g. the S and also the fact that there’s a lowercase. I meant to say Filmotype Ginger, but it appears to be a tad bolder and wider, and also not a perfect match in all details. Filmotype Gem is too bold and wide and doesn’t have a lowercase. Here are some assorted samples.