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Comment by akamaka | Hacker News Reader

Not a Star Trek related question, but I noticed that the title is printed in a special cursive font, while the rest of the document is typewritten. What kind of machine would have been used in 1964 to print a custom font for a one-off document?

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Though I doubt the document was typeset (because it appears typed by a typewriter), before desktop publishing, and before typesetting computer systems, there was phototypesetting.[1] Because this is only a minor element on one page, I doubt it was phototypeset and instead merely pasted up with type tape... literally rolls of clear tape for every font with one letter on it repeated over and over in all point sizes. Lots and lots of these rolls of tape in production art areas. You cut off the letter from that roll of tape, stick it to the paste up, get the next letter from the next roll, stick it next to the first letter, find the roll for the lower case "a," cut it, trim it with an exacto knife, and place it, find the roll with the lowercase "r" in that font and point size, and so on and so forth. The tape was mostly used for last minute corrections, typos in the photostat type, wasn't really for typesetting a lot of copy, but using 8 letters or more of type tape wasn't out of the ordinary.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phototypesetting

The main text surely was typed on a typewriter. Computer printed letters didn't really start happening until 1980 or so. Around then I bought a Diablo 630 daisywheel printer. That would produce beautiful typed pages, but monospaced. The printer paper had sprocket holes which were torn off after printing, but if you ran your finger over the edges you could tell.

Proportional computer fonts weren't printed much until laser printers appeared, which revolutionized everything.

I doubt anyone had a laser printer at home until Apple's LaserWriter first sold in 1985 (for $6995!), but laser printing was first developed between 1968 and 1972 at Xerox Parc, with IBM selling the first commercial laser printers in 1976.[1]

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_3800#3800_Model_001

Yes the technology existed, but it wasn't pervasive because it was too expensive.

This is almost certainly custom stationary; we called it Letterhead. Even before computers. You get it from a print shop, you roll it into your typewriter, and start typing. And try not to waste it, it's expensive!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letterhead

To me, this looks like the Brush Script font [1]. Probably Letraset [2] or a similar system. (Display lettering was the actual purpose of Letraset.)

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brush_Script

[2] Compare: https://www.pinterest.at/pin/brush-script-24pt60pt-letraset-...

Back then there were several ways to do this sort of thing.

Rub-off dry transfer lettering like those from Letraset or mechanical pantographs like the Leroy were commonly used for technical lettering.

But it was probably hand drawn -- "draftsman" and graphic artists were found in all sorts of office settings that you don't see today.

A pen, perhaps? Inksmanship, drafting, lettering all were much more common skills.

Could also be stickers, hot metal typesetting (unlikely), or even phototypesetting.

I don't think there was phototype in 1964. Probably Letraset.

I think phototypesetters arrived around 1974

> The use of phototypesetting grew rapidly in the 1960s when software was developed to convert marked up copy, usually typed on paper tape, to the codes that controlled the phototypesetters.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phototypesetting

Thanks!

In '64, this might have been reproduced on a Xerographic photocopier, although it's also possible it was reproduced photographically (to produce offset plates) if they were making a large number. Either way I suspect it's most likely the "Star Trek" lettering was done by hand, but another possibility would be pressure transfer lettering.

I think you’re right about the pressure transfer lettering. Letraset was introduced in 1961, and it looks like their “Brush Script” font. This would have been cutting edge graphic design when Roddenberry wrote it!

Just came to the same conclusion. (Sorry for the dupe.)

Yeah, that makes a lot more sense. Thinking about it more it would be surprising to me if a commercial artist or draftsperson worked on this document and did nothing but the header lettering... there's a reason technical reports from this period with hand lettering or diagrams usually also have an illustrated cover. It's in for a penny, in for a pound on having a commercial artist involved.

The way it worked in the old days is you would have a graphic designer make your logo, then you take it to an offset printing shop and they would make your stationery for you. Same with business cards, as made famous in that scene from American Psycho.

It could have been created the old fashioned way, with a stencil and ink. After being photocopied, it would look indistinguishable.

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