# What was this font that everybody used for about fifty years? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 9, 2013, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-font-that-everybody-used-for-about-fifty-years/649802 "2013-02-09T17:09:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-font-that-everybody-used-for-about-fifty-years/649802/41 "2013-02-11T23:06:56Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > [Here’s another series of comic book style fonts](http://www.comicbookfonts.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=1815), but they’re not free. They all have the “comic book” feel, but they’re all a little bit different, some much more different than others. Fixed the link. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-font-that-everybody-used-for-about-fifty-years/649802/42 "2013-02-11T23:08:48Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > There are a lot of rules: all capital letters, no serifs, etc. Two important rules: avoid the word “FLICK” and do not name a character “CLINT”. ---
**Author:** ![Toucanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Toucanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toucanna)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-font-that-everybody-used-for-about-fifty-years/649802/43 "2013-02-12T01:35:16Z")
[QUOTE=GuanoLad] iPhone? The MS in the name means Microsoft, you know. [/QUOTE] Yes, I knew that ya big silly! I’ve used MS Office since before the iPhone was a twinkle in Steve Job’s eye. It’s not the MS quirks that confuse me but Apple’s. I’m exactly the type of neophyte whom the “walled garden” concept is meant to coddle. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-font-that-everybody-used-for-about-fifty-years/649802/44 "2013-02-13T04:37:43Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > Two important rules: avoid the word “FLICK” and do not name a character “CLINT”. Just today I was reading a comic where CLINT BARTON was FLICKING PENNIES at things. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-font-that-everybody-used-for-about-fifty-years/649802/45 "2013-02-14T04:12:25Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Honestly, it seems like someone is discovering the characteristics of _handwriting_ for the first time. Bullshit. Handwriting looks different from person to person in large amounts. My handwriting looks nothing like my sister’s which looks nothing like my mom’s which looks nothing like my dad’s. What’s happening here is that a lot of people with very little depth of knowledge are lording over that knowledge they do have, not realizing that it’s not relevant to the question. This is not handwriting. This is lettering. And, as lettering, it follows a specific style that is much more strict than handwriting, albeit not as strict as fonts. The OP was asking for a specific name for this style, which she was going to use to look up the various fonts that would fit it. Honestly, it looks like you guys are just looking for a reason to call the OP dumb rather than answer the question. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-font-that-everybody-used-for-about-fifty-years/649802/46 "2013-02-15T13:06:04Z")
Lettering is a subset of handwriting. And depending on how you were taught handwriting, it might have been very similar to this situation. Under rigorous penmanship instruction — which was not all that unusual, especially in Catholic schools —entire classes of people would emerge with nearly identical handwriting, with the expected variations you might expect, just like in lettering for comic books. Scrivening was in certain places and times taught as an essential life skill, and there were many people who were employed in big businesses for the purpose of writing things down in a clear and regularlized script. Comic book lettering is really no different from all the many decades in which many kinds of professionals used handwriting in a formal setting. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-font-that-everybody-used-for-about-fifty-years/649802/47 "2013-02-15T16:47:42Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > This is not handwriting. This is lettering. And, as lettering, it follows a specific style that is much more strict than handwriting, albeit not as strict as fonts. And yet each comic book letterer’s work was unique enough that people had favorites. (“Favorite Letterer” was a category back when I used fill out fan ballots for the annual comic book awards.) But I would agree that, to the casual, non-comic-reader or someone who only looks at them occasionally, every letterer’s work probably looks identical. Serious fans who read lots of comics over a long period of time can, and do, see a difference. > [@](#): > > The OP was asking for a specific name for this style, which she was going to use to look up the various fonts that would fit it. [Comic book fonts](https://www.google.com/search?q=comic+book+fonts&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-this-font-that-everybody-used-for-about-fifty-years/649802.md?page=2)