Advance Type Foundry

1. Overview

1913.

The firm of Wiebking, Hardinge & Co. seems to have been founded 1896 as a matrix maker (using the Wiebking/Hardinge pantograph engraver developed by 1894 from an earlier German machine by Robert Wiebking). It seems also to have developed, for in-house use, typecasting machinery associated with Hardinge.

For a very brief period around 1913, Wiebking, Hardinge & Co. operated a type foundry under the name "Advance Type Foundry." The exact dates of this foundry are difficult to determine. McGrew says that Wiebking developed Artcraft (originally called Craftsman) in 1912, but the first ads and trade notes for the startup of the Advance Type Foundry (featuring Craftsman/Art-Craft) appeared in 1913. Several sources cite 1914 as the year in which they were acquired by the Western Type Foundry of St. Louis. ( Nicholas Werner cites this date in his 1932 article on Wiebking. Robert A. Mullen, in his book Recasting a Craft (Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 2005) cites the same date, but he may be relying on Werner for this information.) However, a a notice from Printing Trade News in September 1913 (see below) indicates that this had already occurred by this date. The conclusion to be drawn from the trade notices is that the Advance Type Foundry may have operated for less than a year.

2. Trade Notices

The following rather useful summary appeared in the "Trade Notes" section of The Inland Printer, Vol. 50, No. 6 (March, 1913): 914. Note, however, that the spelling Wiebking's name (here "Weibking") is incorrect; the correct spelling of "Wiebking" is confirmed by the ads placed by the firm.

(From the Hathi/Google digitization of the University of Minnesota copy. Hathi ID umn.319510018987754)

Note that their claim to have made "the first successful machine for engraving type matrices" is not correct. That distinction probably goes to the unnamed machine used at the Central Type Foundry in the early 1880s . For a more general discussion, see the discussion of pantographic matrix making Beyond (and Before) Benton.

In the April 1913 number of The American Printer there appears a brief note in the context of a showing of Advance's Art-Craft Series which repeats this information. Either The American Printer was copying The Inland Printer or (more likely) we are seeing the results of an Advance Type Foundry press release.

( American Printer, Vol. 56, No. 2 (April 1913): 241, 251. From the Google scan of the University of Michigan copy via The Hathi Trust. Hathi ID: mdp.39015086802843.)

No advertisements by Advance Type Foundry appear after April 1913 in The Inland Printer.

In The Inland Printer, Vol. 51, No. 1 (April, 1913), p. 130, Advance Type Foundry had a listing in the "Business Directory" section:

"ADVANCE TYPE FOUNDRY - Highest quality type at moderate prices. WIEBKING, HARDINGE & CO., Props. 1133 Newport av., Chicago."

The same Business Directory listing appears in the September 1913 number (Vol. 51, No. 6, p. 921).

The following note appeared in Printing Trade News, Vol. 45, No. 11 (Sept. 9, 1913): 37. It would seem to indicate that the transfer of the Wiebking/Hardinge interests to Western Type Foundry occurred in two stages.

(A look at an online map of Chicago indicates that "Ravine" avenue is probably a typo for "Racine.")

(From the Google digitization of the University of Michigan copy, via The Hathi Trust. Hathi ID: mdp.39015086719062.)

3. Literature

This is the advertisement announcing the commencement of the Advance Type Foundry by Wiebking, Hardinge & Co. It appeared in The Inland Printer, Vol. 50, No. 4 (January, 1913): 617. The face in which it is set, "Craftsman," was later renamed Artcraft.

(From the Hathi Trust / Google digitization of the University of Minnesota copy. Hathi ID umn.319510018987754)

Here is an ad from the next number of The Inland Printer for Caslon Antique:

( Inland Printer, Vol. 50, No. 5 (February, 1913): 650. From the Hathi Trust / Google digitization of the University of Minnesota copy. Hathi ID umn.319510018987754)

In March they offered "Art-Craft" (formerly "Craftsman," later "Artcraft.")

( Inland Printer, Vol. 50, No. 6 (March, 1913): 824. From the Hathi Trust / Google digitization of the University of Minnesota copy. Hathi ID umn.319510018987754. At the present time there are two Google/Hathi digitizations of this volume. The digitization of the Minnesota volume (shown above) is less distorted but omits the left side of the border around the ad. Here is the University of Michigan copy, Hathi ID umn.39015086783415 , which is wavy but more complete.)

Advance ran the same advertisement in The American Printer in April:

( American Printer, Vol. 56, No. 2 (April 1913): 241, 251. From the Google scan of the University of Michigan copy via The Hathi Trust. Hathi ID: mdp.39015086802843. This digitization is a much nicer image than the ones from The Inland Printer.)

In the April number of The Inland Printer they were offering Modern Text.

( Inland Printer, Vol. 51, No. 1 (April, 1913): 4. From the Hathi Trust / Google digitization of the University of Minnesota copy. Hathi ID umn.319510018987762)

The first eight pages (the first imposed form from which the number was printed) of the April 1913 number of The Printing Art Suggestion Book was set entirely in "Art-Craft."

( The Printing Art Suggestion Book. Vol. 11, No. 3 (April 1911): 1-8. Digitized by Google from the University of Michigan copy and available via The Hathi Trust. Hathi ID: mdp.39015086792440. The image here links to a PDF of these eight pages assembled from the Hathi page images. 23 Megabytes.)