You know, the ones that are on 19th century posters, like the ones here and here.
Was this just the style of the time? Why a pointing finger and not something else?
The Pointing guesture has always, and instinctivley, been used to draw someone’s attention to the object being pointed at. It’s also considered authoritative. It’s giving a command not a request.
One poster seems to be selling something (Or it might be a political poster given it’s mention of 200 jack asses) and the second seems to be issued by some sort of law enforcement agency. Both positions of power and authority and both want your attention. I can think of no other guesture than a pointing finger that would suit the posters better.
What’s the question? The fingers point at something you’re supposed to look at.
I don’t get it.
If I may, I think the question is more along the lines of “why were these used so much at the time, as opposed to now, when we never see them?”
Among explanations:
Old-time posters were mainly made of text. They couldn’t resort to colors to gather attention, and photos were scarce. They had to use some other gimmick.
Also keep in mind that many people at the time were illiterate or very poor readers. Finger-pointing helped them focus on the important part of the message without getting lost.
☞ No idea!
It was a style element that fell out of style. It’s similar to a 60s rock music poster: the style is not used any more since it’s become old-fashioned (except when used ironically). Nowadays, you’re more likely to use other typographical styles – bullets, indents – in order to make things clear.
Not only that, but they were typeset by hand. To the printer who had those pointing hands in amongst their stock of letters, numbers, etc., there must have been a great temptation to use them.
Yes, this is what I was asking. I know they’re obviously supposed to be pointing out important things. Sorry if it sounded like a stupid question, but thanks for the responses.
I’m guessing they fell out of favor after everyone learned how to ‘read’ those posters. Think of early cartoons where the characters always pointed to what the animators wanted you to see or movies where flashbacks (for example) were indicated with swirls. Things are more subtle due to audience sophistication, IMO.
Somewhere along the way, the pointing finger must have given way to quote marks. Movie titles, for one thing, were nearly always in quotes in the 40’s. You don’t see that much anymore, either.
The ubiquitous and usually wrongly applied quotes are still in fashion in certain areas purely to call attention to names or other aspects of a sign or announcement. They can be quite humorous when the quotes are interpreted as implying something is quasi- or faux- or simulated- whatever.
Example: Today’s Menu “Special”
Mom’s “Homemade Apple” Pie
One additional reason the pointing finger may have dropped off in usage could be it’s not all that easy to draw. such things as --> or > or *** or : have appeared in similar places that bold of italics have replaced. For a while in my earlier internet text efforts, before the specialized tags were available, ALL CAPS and this sort of stuff were all over the place.
In short, eye candy that got cloying after better methods became available.
No automatic centred justification, don’t forget - the use of a big block such as the ‘hand’ one would reduce the number of pieces needed, in turn reducing preparation time for what were presumably low-budget affairs.
Another related thought, coming from a minimal knowledge of printing processes - in the OP’s example, leaving the hands out and having the large section of whitespace could cause stretching or distortion due to the unequal pressures on the paper? In other words, something needs to be there, so why not a hand?
In typographers’ lingo, they are called “fists,” and there are many, many styles, including female.
With nail polish?
Okay, so, if this is male:
F
Does that mean this is female?
B
The hand doesn’t save any time or money. It’d be easier to use blank slugs to fill in the space in the frame. Well not easier, but not any harder, either.
Also, ideally, the frame with the type just barely kisses the paper. Despite it being called a press, it doesn’t need a lot a pressure. So distortion tends not to be much of a problem. Try it yourself: bust open a ballpoint pen and see how much pressure you need to get the ink to stick to your shirt, pants, hair, SO, small forest animals, &c.
Numerous regulations (’‘Exit’’ signs for one) have standardized certain symbols, and this has also led to the demise of the fist/finger pointing.
With workplaces, public building and traffic signs being regulated for safety, most people were eventually exposed to standard symbols: Arrows
The “fists” or pointing hand symbols were often used as graphic elements in signs, generally just as one would use an arrow grapohic today “EXIT===>” for instance.
The earlier comment about a society in which litteracy was not high meant that graphic elements were often NOT symbolic or decorative, but functional.
That tradition of design naturally made its way into print advertising.
Regards
FML
It’s just a form of bullets popular in those days. If you look at the font set for Dixieland or Dingbats, you will find hands, dots, squares, stars, diamonds, triangles, starbursts, arrows, pencils, pens, checks, planes, telephones, fingers in many positions, scissors, crosses, flowers, card suits, numbers, stars in circles, circles in stars, and snowflakes, no two alike.
In those days? What about these days?
Just hover your mouse cursor over a link. Watch what happens to the cursor. Ah-hah!