 Some background on the author...Jeff Levine’s fascination with Stenso Lettering Guides began in Brooklyn, NY around 1960, while he was in the third grade. A fellow classmate brought one of these stencils into class, and Jeff was immediately taken with how simply one could trace the outline of the alphabet to create decorative lettering. Shortly thereafter, Jeff started avidly collecting as many of the Stenso items he could find, often visiting a neighborhood print shop to seek new additions for his collection, as well as scouring any store he felt would yield a "hidden treasure". Over the years, his hobby took a back seat to other interests, and many of the stencils were either lost, given away or became too worn out to collect. The influence from the lettering stencils remained, and he has worked in different facets of the graphic arts field. In the early 1980’s, Jeff was able to fulfil one quest: To locate the originators of this product he found so fascinating and to learn what he could about the evolution of the company. With the computer age and the growth of the Internet, the time seemed to be right for Jeff to revive his hobby and love of the lettering stencils which eventually guided him toward lettering and graphic design. He conceived of this web article and started collecting the old stencils once again, and in doing so has discovered many product items he never knew existed. After assembling all of the basic information, scanning the many stencil packages to show examples of the products and getting back in touch with Robert Libauer (who ran the company for many years), Jeff approached his friend Ray Larabie - a talented type designer - who agreed to host the article and various image galleries on his web site. Thus was born the pinnacle of a hobby started so many years ago, and an article that also serves as a tribute to the creative insight of the late Ruth Libauer Hormats, the business acumen of Robert Libauer, and a simple little product which turned many a school child or business owner into a sign maker. Jeff Levine is currently active as a digital type designer, and a number of his font releases were modelled after some of the actual Stenso items of the 1940’s and 1950’s. You can see Jeff’s creative output by visiting his page at MyFonts.com. © 2005-2007 by Jeffrey N. Levine All rights reserved. |