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| Company type | Defunct |
|---|---|
| Industry | Type foundry |
| Founded | February 8, 1892 |
| Defunct | 1993 |
| Headquarters | Elizabeth, New Jersey, U.S. |
Key people | Linn Boyd Benton, Morris Fuller Benton, Joseph W. Phinney, Wadsworth A. Parker |
American Type Founders (ATF) Co. was a business trust created in 1892 by the merger of 23 type foundries, representing about 85 percent of all type manufactured in the United States at the time.[1] The new company, consisting of a consolidation of firms from throughout the United States, was incorporated in New Jersey.[2]
The American Type Founders Co. should not be confused with the American Type Founders' Association, also called the Type Founders' Association of the United States. Both institutions are identified by the same acronym, ATF. The ATF Association was formed in 1864 and was responsible for establishing the American point system in 1886 based on 83 picas exactly equal to 35 cm.[3] The ATF Co. was not formed until 1892. All but six of the 23 foundries in the company were members of the ATF Association.
The American Type Founders Co. was the dominant American manufacturer of metal type from its creation in 1892 until at least the 1940s; it continued to be influential into the 1960s. Many fonts developed by the ATF Co. in its period of dominance, including News Gothic, Century Schoolbook, Franklin Gothic, Hobo and Bank Gothic, remain in everyday use.
- ^ De Vinne, Theodore Low, The Practice of Typography, Century Company, N.Y.C., 1922, p. 105.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
From the Archives no. 12—The Formation of American Type Founderswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "The American Point System", Richard Hopkins, Hill & Dale Press, Terra Alta, West Virginia, 1976, pp. 59-60.
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