HWT Catchwords

Catchwords have always been offered alongside standard alphabets in wood type catalogs and so often appear on posters as a decorative punch that they have become part of the wood type vernacular. Words like ‘The’, ‘And’, ‘To’, ‘For’, and less common abbreviations could be inserted into a design along with decorative ornaments or stars when space was tight or to add variety in the design.

HWT Catchwords features over 80 words based directly on designs offered by Hamilton and other wood type manufacturers of the 19th and early 20th Century.