Decal block letter suggestions for my running board Tourists Kitchenette

[Matt in California]

I picked this up at an auction last weekend.

Unfortunately someone took the time to paint over the decal lettering. I plan to strip the paint off and either leave the galvanized steel or paint it. Either way I would like to add decal lettering.

Any suggestions?

[Matt in California]

“ICE BOX” Seems to be written and 1 inch lettering.

Everything else seems to be written with three-quarter inch lettering.

I am not sure on the exact font but this appears to be a block lettering with black outlines. I’m not sure if it was a decal or some sort of lettering that was stamped on with paint.

[RajoRacer]

Most any print shop can do vinyl letters.

[Wayne Sheldon]

Quite a number of years ago, when I was working on the 1927 Paige that my dad had bought to restore (but never did), I wanted to replace the nearly missing decals on the car's shock absorbers. I went to the local Michael's/Ben Franklin store (two chains owned by the same parent company). There they had quite a selection of decal letter sets in several sizes and a few styles and colors.
Slim chance they would have a really close match? But maybe they would have something close enough?
I never did finish the Paige (family needs kept getting in the way). However the shock absorbers mounted on the front of the car still look great!

Some local print/copy/office supply stores can print small runs of decal copies. You might have to provide samples of the letters style you want. But you may be able to get something really close to the original style.

I really like that "kitchen"!

[TRDxB2]

The twin https://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/1 ... 1312059896

[JohnM]

Very cool! Great find, love to have one!

[jiminbartow]

I have always liked the gold leaf Wild West font with ornate pin-striping like the lettering on Fire Engines. You can look up examples online and where to get such lettering. Jim Patrick

IMG_7999.jpeg (110.13 KiB) Viewed 29331 times

[Ken Lefeber]

They have one of those on display at the Antique Car Museum of Iowa.
Looks like fun.

[John kuehn]

Get on the net and type in vinyl block lettering or or something similar and Amazon along with it.
They have all kinds,types, fonts and you name it. It comes in different sizes and so on.

They have what you need and the cost is really reasonable.

[jiminbartow]

If you want to keep it white, Rustoleum Gloss White Appliance Epoxy spray paint is the best I have found. Sand off all the high points and runs with wet/dry sand paper to get it as smooth as possible then spray. If you are good, you can get a professional looking paint job. This is a fender I did with the Rustoleum Gloss Black Epoxy. Pictures were taken after the paint was dry and before polishing with Meguiar’s rubbing compound. You can get an even better shine if you polish it with rubbing compound but the finish looked so good, I did not feel the need to compound it. The same results can be achieved with the white. Jim Patrick

[Matt in California]

I appreciate all the wonderful comments!

Jim Patrick, Thanks for the advice on the painting. I’ve been working on stripping it down to the galvanized sheet metal.

In someways I like the galvanized look. But I might want to paint at least the inside.

Jiminbartow, I love those gold leaf decals!!! Even though it is not original the gold and black letters could look amazing. Any suggestions on where to find online.

I will have to see if a hobby craft store has the labels I could use.

I also see that there are laser water slip decals. Anyone try those?

Matt

[RajoRacer]

I use the laser decals on some of my flying rockets !

[Matt in California]

I use the laser decals on some of my flying rockets !

Are they as simple as they seem. This would be black only, but how is color? I imagine color over white should come out okay. I might want to reproduce the manufactures decal.

This is what is left of that decal:

It is different than other ones that I find online.

Matt

[John kuehn]

It’s amazing it lasted as long as it did over the years. There are people that reproduce these types of emblems. If you send a really clear picture to them and the size they can fill in the missing lettering and etc. Or you can do it yourself and then glue on the reproduced emblem.

Check out Radiodaze. They deal with old and antique radios and parts and reproduce similar emblems on antique dials , lettering and etc. There are other sources besides this company that may do it too.

[TRDxB2]

I appreciate all the wonderful comments!

Jim Patrick, Thanks for the advice on the painting. I’ve been working on stripping it down to the galvanized sheet metal.
6B2866D8-1719-488B-B2C8-56B7E36DC57F.jpeg
A25D4330-0E01-454F-A20B-3B9ABA5D9393.jpeg
In someways I like the galvanized look. But I might want to paint at least the inside.

Jiminbartow, I love those gold leaf decals!!! Even though it is not original the gold and black letters could look amazing. Any suggestions on where to find online.

I will have to see if a hobby craft store has the labels I could use.

I also see that there are laser water slip decals. Anyone try those?

Matt

Click to see hundreds of ICE BOX Fonts https://www.1001fonts.com/

You likely already know but just in case painting over galvanized metal takes some special steps
https://home.howstuffworks.com/home-imp ... -metal.htm
--
Primers
https://www.rustoleum.com/pages/search- ... l%20primer
--
Also do the inside & seal it to make it safe
Is Galvanized Metal Safe for Food?
Our galvanized steel buckets and tubs are popular for keeping drinks in their containers cold. However, galvanized steel does not meet USDA food safe serving standards for acidic foods; like tomatoes, pickles, fish and fruit juices. Galvanized metal is not safe for cooking or storing food. Foods with low acidity do not react with the galvanized steel and, according to the USDA, are safe to serve on galvanized steel.
We recommend when serving food from galvanized containers, line your galvanized tray, bucket, or tub with wax paper, parchment paper or plastic wrap. This way you do not have to worry about properly identifying your food as a high-acid or low-acid food.
The acid in some foods will react with the zinc coating to form salts. An excesses consumption of these salts could cause a mild sickness. Although these salts are readily absorbed by the body, we recommend getting your daily dose of zinc directly from the foods you eat: try pumpkin seeds, garlic, dark chocolate, sesame seeds, or chickpeas.

Is Galvanized Metal Safe for Food?

Zinc toxicity symptoms begin 3 to 12 hours after ingestion and include: diarrhea, vomiting, fever. Milk should be given immediately to an individual with zinc toxicity and professional medical help should be sought. Milk helps neutralize the digestive tract with too much zinc.

If your heart is set serving food from a metal bucket, try our food-safe easy to clean 13 quart stainless steel water bucket is rust and scratch proof, odor-free, hygienic and dishwasher safe.

Is It Safe To Cook With Galvanized Metal
Cooking vessels, utensils and food storage containers are generally not made out of galvanized steel. There are, however, the infrequent accounts of galvanized containers like trash cans and tubs being used for big cookouts or parties. People do it. But is it safe?

Zinc fumes are set free when galvanised steel is heated. These fumes are very toxic to breathe. Deposits of zinc from the fumes accumulate in the food. Utensils like ladles and galvanized-surfaced pails should not be used for food cooking. There are no USDA certified-safe galvanized metal cooking surfaces or containers.

[jiminbartow]

You can do an online image search using any number of search phrases such as:

Gold leaf fire engine lettering.
Ornate gold leaf fire engine pinstriping.
Old West gold leaf letters (Lettering).
Wild West gold leaf lettering.
Fire engine lettering applicators.
Note: For different images and results you can substitute fire truck for fire engine.

If you do an image search and click onto an image you like, it will usually have details about the photo such as where the letters can be obtained or who did the application. I did an online search for “Fire Truck Gold Leaf” and found a guy name Bob Bond who has a website showing all the fire engines he has done. I got the below picture from his website. See: www.bobbondart.com. Perhaps if you contact him he can point you in the right direction on how to get started and where to obtain the lettering supplies or he might even help you. Jim Patrick

PS. I believe you can remove zinc and galvanized finish with muriatic acid. When I was a kid, I used to remove zinc from 1943 steel Lincoln Pennies to make them look like new. It will also remove any rust. Be sure to mix a bucket of baking soda in water to thoroughly neutralize the acid. Immediately dry with a towel then heat with a heat gun to rapidly dry it to minimize the formation of surface rust before painting.

[Erik Johnson]

In my opinion, each word label on the various drawer fronts are paint that was applied with a rubber stamp.

If it were me, I would obtain rubber stamp set with with similar size font and emulate what was originally done. I would clamp the respective stamps together to form the desired word and then use some sort of guide when stamping the drawer fronts.

[VowellArt]

Your text is known as Gothic No13 BT in the "True Type" font case. It's a condensed font, but needs a bit of modification for the middle of the E and the lower arm of the F and the letters have to be outlined not solid. These were probably a "Varnish Transfer" like you see on Piano Fallboards. They would be applied with a thin coat of same color paint and transferred (your pictures seems to suggest this, because the centers of the letters appears to be slightly lighter shade than the rest of the drawer). It takes about 2 seconds to do each drawer that way and the position indexing onto the drawer would be absolute with no possibility of smudging.

I could set this up for you, it would be pretty easy. I have over 1200 fonts available to me and if I can't find it (like if it was a "hand laid font" I can copy it and put it into any format you like. I can even do the lids logo art too. After all, this is what I do kiddies!

[Matt in California]

John,
I have seen other photos of decals for these cabinets, but this one seems different.

Frank,
I appreciate your comments. Here are some responses:
Paining zinc- I am aware of the issues. That is in part why I was considering not painting.

Zinc and food- I was not aware of the concerns. I know in industrial settings only stainless steel is acceptable. Even painted metal in contact with food is not considered acceptable... For me I was intrigued by the novelty. I plan to keep food not in contact with the metal. I am surprised no one brought up the lead solder joints.

Jim,
Thanks for the link to Bob Bond's site. I have a old safe. No I have some ideas for artwork!

Erik,
I was thinking this was purhaps rubber stamped paint too. But Martynn seems to be an expert...

Martynn,
I would love to get your help. You are amazing to recognize the correct font! Here are the words on my box (some variation to other ones listed here.)

• ICE BOX

• TOWELS

• BREAD

• DISH-PAN

• CAN GOODS

• COFFEE

• KOL-PAK (written vertical)

• DRIP (written vertical)

• ICE WATER (written vertical)

ICE BOX is 1 inch the rest appear to be 3/4 inch
I would have to research how varnish transfers work, but if you could make this on a PDF I could print and verify size/layout for now.

Thanks everyone!

Matt

[John kuehn]

After you get the whole unit repainted and add the new lettering I wouldn’t worry about the galvanized boxes in it.
If you want to use them buy some styrofoam containers with lids or some insulated lunch kit boxes that would fit close enough. Just a thought to reusing them on a T tour or show.

This should satisfy the food safety folks that may be around!

[Allan]

When you look at the list of headings, there a no items mentioned that are not dry goods in their own packaging, so there should be no fear of any food contamination. I look upon the unit as a pantry, not a refrigerator or cooler. If you use it as labelled, it can be left packed for the next trip, sans the bread perhaps.

Allan from down under.

[VowellArt]

Matt, okay so ICE WATER is 1" (72 pt) and the rest are 3/4" (54 pt)?
Ummm, from what I can see, it looks to be all of the drawers may well be 3/4" (54pt), but the 1" (72pt) Is ICE BOX, not ICE WATER (of course if you want ICE WATER that size too, it's your choice). Although I'm not quite sure that the lettering is 3/4" (54pt) of the vertical text is the same as the rest of the drawers, they look a tad short, but who knows maybe it's the angle...just verify those letter heights and give me the length of the vertical text for each string and their line weight (thickness) for both the 72 and the 54 pt type and I'll send you the PDF. Do you want me to post it here or PM you with it?

Oh I noticed on one of the pictures that there are some dots between BREAD and LUNCH, do you want these too? I need to know the size of those dots as well and their spacing. Do you also want the lid's logo? If you do, let me know. It appears be be a paper logo that the paper turned yellow over time (I'm guessing), because of the trim on the border lines and the leftover outside of the line (means it was machine cut and incorrectly indexed) which sort of indicates it to be a paper logo and the paper probably was white, like the unit. The red looks to be Pantone 1797 (Cherry Red) or 485 (Stop Sign Red), can't really tell from a picture though, but either one of those would be so really close to the original....just depends upon how vibrant you want it to be...1797 is more saturate (richer) than 485, being a tad lighter.

I'm going to set these up in CYMK (Cyan, Yellow, Magenta and Black), if you choose to print these on a RGB printer or in Grayscale, let me know because I'll have to change the color register.

I just had a different idea....can you take a full frontal picture of your unit (or if they're not really very visible, just a close up of each drawer would work too? Just their fronts, no angles....don't worry about the size, I'll make the text and fit it to your picture, that way when I enlarge it should the correct (line weights and all).

And send them as Jpgs to my email address vowell@vowellart.com

[VowellArt]

Matt, I just thought of something concerning your unit....what kind of paint did they used to paint over that text? If is some sort of lacquer, it may be possible to remove it without harming the text underneath. But that also depends upon what that text is too. If the Text was applied as a varnish transfer, then lacquer thinner won't damage it at all. Ever do any wood graining on metal? The first coat is always the whatever wood you're doings base color in lacquer, then the grain itself is made with printers ink. The reason is because if you don't like how it turns out, you can wipe if off with printers solvent and start over. The base coat won't be touched by the solvent at all. But once you get your grain the way you want it you'd coat it with either clear lacquer or clear coat. I did that with my Model A's interior window mullions and the dash and it looked just like mahogany (I also added some pearl to the base coat to get that deep sparkle that mahogany has).

But this all depends upon whether or not they used paint for those letters of printing ink. Even though to my mind they would've probably used Printers Ink rather than paint, because the ink would've been cheaper than the paint and it would make it easier to correct mistakes (because they could simply wipe it off and start over again).

What you're going to do is to try and remove just a tad of it from around one of your letters, to see if this is true or not. If it also removes a bit of the letter stop! It's something else and we'll have to go about like I said in my previous post....but it's worth a try, you might not have to do any lettering at all if they're still nice under that very sloppy paint job.

[modeltspaz]

I used to have one of those running board kitchenettes years ago. I decided that it was just too big for my car, and according to David Woodworth, the one I had was a Model A and the largest one. The Model B was the mid-size and perfect for a Model T running board. Well, enough of that.
I was the decal guy in the Model Shop when I worked for Mattel. Early on, I figured out that if I was going to put a water slide deal on any color base other than white, I needed to print on white decal paper.
Sometimes, I needed to make a decal that had a metallic gold or silver background, such as the decal in the photo above showing the inside of the lid. Since that type of decal paper isn't available, I would take a sheet of white or clear decal paper and spray it metallic gold or silver, whichever it called for. Spray can paint, such as Krylon, worked fine. I would then print another sheet of decal paper on clear. I'd then cut the clear paper with the black or whatever other colors may be on the artwork, larger than needed. Then, I'd slide the clear decal sheet with the black or other colors onto the sheet of metallic color. I'd give it time to dry, cut the decal to size, wet it, and slide it onto the surface. Then, top with several LIGHT COATS clear lacquer. Worked like a charm every time.
Hope my suggestions are useful.

Good luck.

[TRDxB2]

......

Frank,
I appreciate your comments. Here are some responses:
Paining zinc- I am aware of the issues. That is in part why I was considering not painting.

Zinc and food- I was not aware of the concerns. I know in industrial settings only stainless steel is acceptable. Even painted metal in contact with food is not considered acceptable... For me I was intrigued by the novelty. I plan to keep food not in contact with the metal. I am surprised no one brought up the lead solder joints.
..........

Did some searching to find out what paints are food safe. This is a good reference https://painttopics.com/food-safe-paint ... tal-glass/
Looks like Rust-oleum has several acceptable choices, but need to read the labels associated with the pictures to be 100%. The ceramic paint sounds good for the inside of the bins as well as the outside

[Matt in California]

I used to have one of those running board kitchenettes years ago. I decided that it was just too big for my car, and according to David Woodworth, the one I had was a Model A and the largest one. The Model B was the mid-size and perfect for a Model T running board. Well, enough of that.

Mike, Thanks for the info on the different types of units. Just yesterday I took version of what you described as the model a. It’s a bit of a long story but my brother-in-law purchased it for five months ago when I found it on craigslist near him. For the holiday weekend we met and he made delivery. I remember dad showing no drawers in it and I envisioned it to be the icebox type. It ended up being larger one you mentioned. I don’t think I’ve seen any photos of these on the Internet.

Note: most examples I have seen have a diamond emblem, this has the holes for that, but only used two holes for this rectangle one.

Note: This box was repainted inside and out. The original paint over galvanized metal must have had issues. The repaint of the inside looks really bad, but I like the patina on the outside.

This is 33 inches wide 24 inches tall and 10 inches deep. Icebox that I have is 24 inches wide less than 19 inches tall and 10 inches deep. As you mentioned this style box is much larger. It’s also lighter because it doesn’t have all the drawers and insulation.

[Matt in California]

Wow! What a wealth of knowledge here on the forum. When I originally posted I was hoping to get some direction to find some ready made decals that would be close enough... It is a learning curve for me to understand making custom decals.

Martynn,
I sent you photos of each decal. I see a few things I misstated above. I thing the photos will answer that. Regarding the paint I saw in early advertising that it was painted with enamel inside and out.

John & Allan,
We are on the same page regarding food safety. I can always put things in packages...

Mike,
I appreciate the detail you gave on making decals. If I can find an original decal for the top to reproduce that would be great insight to use!

Frank,
Thanks for the insight about the paint. If I go to the trouble to paint it, It would be worth the trouble to find the best paint. It will be a challenge to find food grade that works with galvanized.

I really appreciate everyone's help!

Matt

[Matt in California]

I am working with Martynn on the decals graphics. He mentioned that the decal on my is not the same as the others. I looked it up and found that it is "ALBATROSS STEEL EQUIPMENT COMPANY". I found key pit of evidence on google from 1928 (Source "Engineers": Listing of the Engineers of Corporations Page 148):

ALBATROSS STEEL EQUIPMENT CO . ( Medicine cabinets , hospital furniture , refrigerators , kitchen cabinets , toilet partitions , tourist kitchenette ) Offices and Plant , 12,416 Exposition Blvd. , Sawtelle , Calif .

BTW Sawtelle is in LA California. The same as the Tourist Supplly Co.

In my searches for advertising it seems that the "Tourist Supply Company" disappears about the same time. I am going to assume that Albaross took over around 1928. I imagine a luxury item camping equipment in the late 1920s was not a good seller and it probably didn't last long in production.

The cabinets are virtually identical except the top on my Alabaross is flat unlike the beveled one from the Tourist Supply Co.

Just looking at the logos on this tread I see three different logos. If someone could take a photo next to a ruler of each of the Tourist decals that would be helpful for Martynn.

I have done a search for Alabaross Steel Equiptment Co logos and not found anything. I image that the same decal could be on a medical or bathroom cabinet. This was my closed find, but unfortunately the person didn't post a photo of the logo before selling the cabinent: https://offerup.com/item/detail/2b83042 ... b2?cid=8.3

The issue with my is that it is partially removed and most unfortunately where the trademark was. Yes, I could take off some of the paint remaining, but I am afraid I will damage the logo more.

Matthew

[jiminbartow]

Have you decided what you are going to do? Post a pic when it’s done. Jim Patrick

[Matt in California]

I have been going back and forth Martynn and there is some great progress on the graphics.

After doing some searching and looking at what is left of the decal I figured out the first words were: THE ALBATROSS LINE

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Ca ... frontcover

This solves the mystery of the missing trademark. Also the words are slightly different because company name and location is slightly different.

Fount is not correct, but gets the point across.

Amazing stuff!

Matt

[jiminbartow]

Good job! On your original decal, I can make out a long horizontal tail going to the right like on a songbird. While in real life, the Albatross has somewhat of a stubby tail, the bird on your original decal does not appear to have the tail of an Albatross, but maybe the original artist did not know that, but I assume you want to be accurate with the original decal. On the original decal the wing tip appears to extend beyond the upper right border. Also the lower portion of the wing appears to be raised as if in a flying position. In order to add a longer horizontal tail, you would need to revise the wing into more of a raised flying position with the wing tip extending beyond the border. Also, on the original decal, the left leg is almost straight down and the right leg is angled downward to the left of center as if it is walking. Jim Patrick

IMG_8086.jpeg (31.64 KiB) Viewed 28123 times

[modeltspaz]

Matt,

I think you hit it with the exception of the text.

It's pretty obvious that the Albatross Co. moved from Portland to Los Angeles at some time and changed their name to equipment co. from furniture co. I think the confusion on the bird artwork may be due to the damage to the original decal. I'm willing to say that the artwork for the bird on the logo you discovered is the same as the one on your lid.

Measure your original decal. Take a copy of the one you found. Size your new artwork to match the length and width of the original in Photoshop. That is, if you have access to Photoshop. You can then change the script to match the original. Photoshop has a program to come pretty close to the blue color background in the diamond. Print that out on a piece of clear decal paper using a standard inkjet printer.

As I stated before, you can then cut out an oversized piece out of the clear decal you just printed. Wet that and slide that onto another piece of decal paper sprayed metallic gold. You can then trim the decal to the proper size and shape.

If it turns out that there isn't enough water soluble dextrose (glue) to adhere the clear decal to the gold, you can apply a thin coat of gold leafing sizing to the gold decal surface to help with the adheasion of the top decal.

Just a side note. Boyco, the company that made the running board emergency can sets, was located in two California towns. Los Angeles and Alameda. I have a can set for my car that when I found it, it had a near perfect original decal. I had a high-resolution photo taken of it. I imported that into Photoshop and copied it. Made it really easy to make more. That way, I didn't lose sleep over sand blasting it.

Good luck.

[Matt in California]

As I stated before, you can then cut out an oversized piece out of the clear decal you just printed. Wet that and slide that onto another piece of decal paper sprayed metallic gold. You can then trim the decal to the proper size and shape.

If it turns out that there isn't enough water soluble dextrose (glue) to adhere the clear decal to the gold, you can apply a thin coat of gold leafing sizing to the gold decal surface to help with the adheasion of the top decal.

Mike,
I will have to lean onto your expertise as I move from the artwork to making/applying decals. I would have had no idea about what you were saying about gold leaf and "sizing" if it were not a conversation I had with a neighbor who custom paints water bottle/flasks. I will probably enlist him for the gold leaf background.

Please enlighten us how you would make the decals. Buy decal transfers that can be printed by laser printer? Or other suggestions?

Matt

[Matt in California]

We are making great progress with the graphics that Martynn made.

One interesting thing was I found the clear tape would pull off most of the paint showing the original paint. To me it looks like glass antique white would be close.

Yesterday I had a great conversation with Mike. He had an amazing job at the toy company making decals. Hard to imagine that was his full-time job. This was not for production this was for prototypes. As stated in his tagline he really wants to share any knowledge he has. What a blessing for this community and myself in particular!

Mike’s advice was to buy laser decal paper print them out and as he mentioned it will be a multi-step process with the logo. For now, I am waiting for the decal paper. I want to make the decals before I remove all the paint so that I can compare...

Matt

[Matt in California]

Progress update.
I stripped pint off of most of the main box. The lunch box area alone took me a few hours. Now I realize that it will be a lot of fun to paint such a small area! It had a nice original paint in it. But it look like someone put a pie in there that spilled over perhaps taking it for a ride

I painted one drawer and put some of Martynn’s artwork on it. It looks amazing!

I have never used printable waterslide decals. It is really easy and straightforward. But one discovery is that the tuner can rub off so I will need to spray clearcoat over the top.

[AEyssen]

We mounted one of our on our 1915 touring. We used a donor running board to avoid drilling holes into our original running board. Fairly sturdy.

[George Mills]

Find an online Boat Lettering place and play with their on-line designer.

They have a visualize before you buy feature. (BOATLETTERINGTOYOU.COM is one, there are many so shop)

They come out all proper spaced, and cut-out slit, you can add shadow to any text, etc

[Matt in California]

George,
Thanks for the idea with the boat company.

Alex your box looks great! I see you’re is a larger one. Mine doesn’t have much black paint on the outside either. How does the inside look on yours? Feel free to post photos.


Matt

[Matt in California]

Alex’s post on this thread is timely. Until recently I hadn’t done any work on this since last September.

The hold up has been the need for reinforcing the left side where the bottom had partly torn away, perhaps because someone was sitting or stepping on it.

I was waiting to find a spot welder. When I got one it was only large enough to do the spots close enough. I ended up using my wire feed with a hole drilled in the top sheet then I welded through the hope in the top sheet with a chunk of brass held against the back side as a heat sink to prevent blasting through. The inside space was very tight. But I managed to I got it to hold together.

I then needed to solder back the self that the drawer slides on. I should have ground down the welds, because now that is not an option.

Now the bracket is added.

On the outside it looks fine.

[Matt in California]

It has been a year and now I have a significate progress photo.

I was able to paint, decal and clear coat the main cabinet. I still need to finish the three drawers and the front and lid. The lid will likely be the last part as I learn how to make a multilayer decal. The paint is not perfect, but I plan to use this, so it will soon get many more defects...

Many thanks to Martynn for the decals. I hope these can be shared perhaps under accessories with the other drawings Martynn made for MTFCA.

Again thanks for all the interest!

Matt

[dobro1956]

I have been away from the forum for awhile. Been really busy. Looks like I missed this interesting thread. One of the things I have been doing is finding and buying a tent trailer to use with our vintage auto camping . I also had been looking for a kitchenette to use. I finally found one on e-bay and bought it. About a week after I received it, I stumbled onto a trailer. It was Ben Hardemans 1929 Zagelmeyer trailer he built several years ago. We ended up buying it and a large collection of 20s era camping gear. In the collection were three kitchenettes. They were all the same brand as the one in this thread. But all three are different sizes. There is a small, medium, and large. The medium is just like the one in this thread. The one I bought on e-bay I would call extra large. It is made by the Riddle Sheet metal Co. I will be needing decals for my kitchenettes. Ben had already worked up the artwork for making the decals. I just have not had time to follow thru with having some made. I thought they would be water transfer. But I am finding out that dry transfer may be better. I also have found several companies that will do all the artwork to your design or use their fonts. They all have fonts that look just like the originals. The dry transfer decals will come on a sheet. If I'm correct all you do to apply them is cut out the word from the sheet. Peel off what would be the back of the decal, then place the decal in place. The sheet is clear or opaque so you can get exact placement. Then when in place rub the outer sheet with finger or eraser, ect to transfer the letters to the kitchenette surface. Then peel off outer sheet. All that remains is the letters. From my research it appears that the turnaround time for orders is just a day maybe two. It will be this fall or winter before I can take time to see about having them made. I'll try to post some pictures of my kitchenettes in a few days, if I can get time.

[Matt in California]

... We ended up buying it and a large collection of 20s era camping gear. In the collection were three kitchenettes. They were all the same brand as the one in this thread. But all three are different sizes. There is a small, medium, and large. The large is just like the one in this thread. The one I bought on e-bay I would call extra large. It is made by the Riddle Sheet metal Co. I will be needing decals for my kitchenettes. ...

Donnie,
Please post photos of your kitchenettes! I did some research and I will PM that to you. I believe it is the most complete history of the Tourist Kitchenette. It has an interesting history... When I have it finalized I will share it publicly.

Matt

[Matt in California]

Before and After

[Matt in California]

More Before and After

Video
Here’s a video I made describing the restoration.
https://youtu.be/_N2BURcOSOo?si=0r_Jk7X9QXmJawBe.

A very special thanks to Martynn Vowell for designing the decals!

[babychadwick]

Looks good, ready to make it dirty and used yet?

I have done many boat name and being as frugal as always continue to use the method I came up with in my teens.
Take your computer and print up what you want in the size you want on regular printer paper. You may need to use multiple sheets and play with font/size a bit.
Next take the entire area you will be painting and cover it with masking tape.
Take your computer printouts and tape them over the taped over area.
Cut thru the printout and tape working from the inside out, once everything is cut out remove the paper exposing a now cut stencil taped in place.
Peel off the tape where you need to paint, let dry and remove the rest.

PS we are thinking of an extended motor amp next summer.

[Matt in California]

Looks good, ready to make it dirty and use?

Thanks for the kind words! No worries I have already chipped and scratched paint. It is designed search that cause it scrapes against itself. I don’t mind having the paint scraper because I am going for a Weather look. The original paint must’ve been of exceptional quality.

Thanks for your tips with the masking tape. It sounds very similar to what my neighbor does airbrushing some amazing artwork.He follows I meant to send that to you what you were describing layer after layer.

Matt

[AEyssen]

Here is a pic from last weekend. It got a lot of looks. In looking at the pics of the other kitchens here, I’m apparently missing the inner lids for the ice box and water tank.

I’d love a set of lettering or the source file (I can laser cut them out of vinyl).

We drove 100 miles on Saturday. The kitchen handled great. The lid clasp is missing so I tied the top lid down to prevent it popping up and causing the panel to open up. It’s a fun accessory you don’t see often.

[Matt in California]

Alex, I agree it is a fun accessory!

Please see attached file- credit Martynn Vowell. Perhaps we should ask Martynn to add some words found on other cabinets including: SUGAR, SOAP, SPUDS, EGGS, BUTTER, FLOUR, and MEAL. Is there anything else missing?

Enjoy!

Matt

[dobro1956]

I think those extra words about covers it. I would like the word spuds added because mine says "spuds" and "canned" goods on bottom drawer. When I get the photos of the large type A kitchenette for you, it has more drawers so more words needed

[VowellArt]

No problem, just tell me what size you need each to be (if you don't know the point sizes, measure their height in inches). I've already got the font set, so I can do them fairly quickly.

[VowellArt]

Did it look anything like this one or the one above?

[Matt in California]

Martynn,
I believe the letters are all the same size except for the ICE BOX. I believe 5/8" all other letters. The letter spacing you could do similar to the other words. If you could fit all the words on one 8x11.5 pdf it would be ideal, so anyone could print decals.

Box Model A
ICE BOX
SOAP TOWELS
BREAD LUNCH
DISH-PAN
CAN GOODS SPUDS
EGGS BUTTER
SUGAR COFFEE
FLOUR MEAL
KOL - PAK (vertical)
DRIP (vertical)
ICE WATER (vertical)

Box Model B
ICE BOX
SOAP TOWELS
BREAD LUNCH
DISH-PAN
CAN GOODS
EGGS BUTTER
SUGAR COFFEE
FLOUR MEAL
KOL - PAK (KOL horizonal - PAK vertical)
DRIP (vertical)
ICE WATER (vertical)

Box Model C (I am still looking for an example with all the lettering, but I believe the following is correct)
ICE BOX
SUGAR COFFEE
KOL - PAK (KOL horizonal - PAK vertical)
DRIP (vertical)
ICE WATER (vertical)

In short if you make the words for Model A. The only words perhaps you could make for both is the KOL-PAK both all vertical and horizonal / Vertical.


Thanks!

Matt

[VowellArt]

5/8" for all the other letters would be pretty small (just a wee bit bigger than 1/2"), you sure you don't mean something a bit bigger, like say 3/4" for those letters. Also not all the letters are the same size....Eggs and Butter for instance are smaller, now they may be 5/8", but the rest of those (with the exception of "ICE BOX" aren't.

[Matt in California]

Here are the measurements of the decals you made on my box:

Donnie Could you measure the original decals on your large box to confirm the size?

Thanks!
Matt

[Matt in California]

5/8" for all the other letters would be pretty small (just a wee bit bigger than 1/2"), you sure you don't mean something a bit bigger, like say 3/4" for those letters. Also not all the letters are the same size....Eggs and Butter for instance are smaller, now they may be 5/8", but the rest of those (with the exception of "ICE BOX" aren't.

Martynn,
Donnie has the large model Kitchenette and he measured his cabinet. All the letters measure 5/8" except the "ICE BOX" that measures 1"

Thanks!

Matt

[VowellArt]

Did he measure SOAP, TOWELS, BREAD, LUNCH and DISH-PAN? They look a bit larger than those other letters...it may be an optical illusion and I might be a bit over cautious, but I'd like you to check and make sure, if you could please.

Oh and did you also want that diamond logo on the under side of the lid too? If so, just send me a picture of it and give me a measurement of it (length, width).

[Allan]

There is no need to drill hole in the running board to mount it, or many other accessories. Simply make up a wooden plank, or use heavy marine plywood, and bolt it to the running board using longer running board and/or fender bolts. You can eve space this plank off the running board with some washers.Then the accessory can be fixed to the wooden plank with screws or countersunk bolts from below. This also allows moisture to drain away from under the fixture.

Allan from down under.

[VowellArt]

One other question, when the letter size goes down, does the line weight also shrink proportionally (in other words, gets thinner, slightly)?

The reason I'm asking is because when certain letters get smaller at the same line weight, they tend to fill in small areas of the letter...like the "A" for example, the center of the "A" will be totally black and you won't be able to see any white background within it. Same thing will happen with the "P", "B" and "R" to a lesser degree, where you might see some background within their centers and since this is a condensed font, the "G" also may fill a bit as well.

[VowellArt]

Also, it is not possible to post a PDF file here on the forum, so I'm gonna put them in my Gallery and they'll be in Logos. They'll be 300 dpi, Jpegs.

[Matt in California]

There is no need to drill hole in the running board to mount it, or many other accessories. Simply make up a wooden plank, or use heavy marine plywood, and bolt it to the running board using longer running board and/or fender bolts. You can eve space this plank off the running board with some washers.Then the accessory can be fixed to the wooden plank with screws or countersunk bolts from below. This also allows moisture to drain away from under the fixture.

Allan from down under.

Allan,
That is a great idea! Always good to be in the company of thinking people!

Matt

[VowellArt]

Ok, look at these and tell me if they're correct or not.

Camping Box A 1 inch "ICE BOX" and all other letters "5/8" inch.

Camping Box B "ICE BOX" is 1" and all other letters are "1/2" inch.

Camping Box C 1 inch tall "ICE BOX" and all other letters are "1/2" inches tall.

[Matt in California]

Did he measure SOAP, TOWELS, BREAD, LUNCH and DISH-PAN? They look a bit larger than those other letters...it may be an optical illusion and I might be a bit over cautious, but I'd like you to check and make sure, if you could please.

Oh and did you also want that diamond logo on the under side of the lid too? If so, just send me a picture of it and give me a measurement of it (length, width).

Martynn,
Donnie is on a excursion with camping set-up. When he gets back he can get in touch to confirm. But here is my response:
- Donnie asked about the diamond logo and if you could help with that, so he needs do get that to you.
- To me all the line weight looked the same on mine.
- The font size should be the same for everything except the ICE BOX
- Donnie can print the logos and compare (like I did in the photos above)

Thanks so much for your help. I believe others will use the letters because the paint hasn't lasted on many of these for 100 years.

Matt

[VowellArt]

You probably wouldn't notice the difference in line weight, since the larger letters are 0.04 and the smaller letters are 0.035. The difference is hardly noticeable, but when it comes to ink and print bleed it is necessary to make some adjustments to thickness, even if you use some sort of copier, it still bleeds alittle.

[VowellArt]

Matt

Made a revision, some of the letters looked a bit narrow for the type face, so had to change them a bit, also added more curves on F and M, also took out the "muddy" look of the letter M (too many extra nodes, which made superfluous curves that just ruined the structure of the letter in comparison to all the other letters). Also changed the line widths back to 0.04 on the Boxes B and C. Having changed some of the letter widths, it changed the parameters vs line width, so, I was able to change them back to the original width without the probable "fill-in", (I hope).

Box A didn't change line width wise, but the letters themselves did (the C, G, D, R, E, F, M, A and S), so got numbered Revision 1-A.

Box B, no changes other than their line widths back to 0.04. Revision 1-A.

Box C, no changes other than their line widths back to 0.04. Revision 1-A.

After looking at these, compare them to my first posting and decide which line width you like better and I'll make the correction.

[VowellArt]

Matt,

You mean the diamond shaped logo, like the one here?

DiamondLogo.jpg (85.05 KiB) Viewed 22843 times

That's a metal plate with a silkscreen (and the idiot assemblers put the bloody rivets in the wrong place, they're supposed to be on the outside of the lines, not inside. The image is never supposed to be compromised that's what the curves on the points is for, to locate the rivets OUTSIDE of the image).

There are two ways of doing the logo (maybe one other, but the registration would be really critical and probably impossible).
1) Dye Sublimation, on a piece of white coated aluminum). The image lasts a really long time and is scratch resistant. It's really good for both black and or full color imagining (I used to make Christmas ornaments and funerary remembrance plaques with it, (dye sub my image off on a piece of Nickle Brass, then roll it onto an Engraving Lathe drum, then make any words in black and print on a printer, mount that to the copy drum of the Lathe. and it cuts the black image onto the Nickel Brass, it remove the Nickel from the plaque, revealing the bright brass beneath. The result was a really fancy Christmas Ornament or Funerary Plaque, custom made in full color with gold lettering and or detail imaging like Rosaries, Crosses whatever the client wanted).

2) Laser engrave on a piece of white/black "Rowmark" plastic, any engraving store will have it available and be able to cut it for you (and probably drill the holes for the rivets too), from any file format including Jpeg.
And then there is the 3rd way....print it like you did these other decals you've made. And if you make the 2 color version, you'll have to run it off on a color copier (preferably a laser color printer).

[dobro1956]

Martynn. Just got back today from a long camp trip. I'll re-check the size of the letters again. On my three different size kitchenettes the letters are basically 1 inch or 5/8 inch. But they can vary about 1/32 on some of the letters. Even on the same kitchenette they vary. Some have a heavy line width and some have a narrower line width. The spacing of some words are "scrunched" together more due to space limitations. There really is vary little consistency to anything. I think it's going to work out to what works best. The only thing we may need to watch is the spacing of some of the words. But the spacing seems to get bigger as the drawers get bigger on different sizes of kitchenettes. The logo Matt mentioned is the logo inside the lid of my type B. Not the riveted on badge. It will be a water slide type of decal. I believe it is gold with black letters and some red details ?? I'll try to get a photo of it but it should be on Matt's online study/thread. It may take me a couple days to respond back here ... Thanks for all you do to help us out...

[dobro1956]

Martynn, Sorry for the delay. I finally got a chance to check the measurements. Here is what I found.
1. All small letters are 5/8 inches tall on all three sizes of Kitchenettes. But they can vary in height up to +1/32. The letters even vary on the same Kitchenette. No letters were less than 5/8 inches tall. But most of the +1/32 taller letters were on the medium type B Kitchenette.
2. The words EGGS and BUTTER are 5/8 inches tall but narrower fonts.
EGGS letters are 1/4 inch wide and overall length of word is 1-5/16 long.
BUTTER letters are 1/4 inch wide except the tops of the Ts are 5/16 wide and overall length of word is 2 inches long.
EGGS and BUTTER are on the large kitchenette.
I will post a photo of the EGGS BUTTER drawer and the drawer below it to show the difference in the font spacing.
3. The photo of the silver diamond logo is on the inside of the large type A kitchenette lid. It is 4-1/4 inches long, point to point, and each side of the diamond is 2-1/2 inches long.
4. The photo of the gold logo is on the inside of the medium type B kitchenette lid. It is 3-1/2 inches long and 2-1/2 inches tall.
5. The photo of the front of the small kitchenette shows the letters I was able to reveal with lacquer thinner and steel wool. It is possible to read all the words except the ICE WATER tank letters. But it is reasonable to assume that is what was used on the tank as the other two sizes also used ICE WATER letters.

I believe the best thing to do is to make all the letters 5/8 inches tall except the ICE BOX letters that are 1 inch tall. and make the EGGS BUTTER letters and words to the scale mentioned above. Since the letters are not consistent in size, 5/8 inch seems to be the best compromise. I assume that the spacing of the letters will be what looks good for each word??
Let me know if you need any more info

[Matt in California]

Matt

Made a revision, some of the letters looked a bit narrow for the type face, so had to change them a bit, also added more curves on F and M, also took out the "muddy" look of the letter M (too many extra nodes, which made superfluous curves that just ruined the structure of the letter in comparison to all the other letters). Also changed the line widths back to 0.04 on the Boxes B and C. Having changed some of the letter widths, it changed the parameters vs line width, so, I was able to change them back to the original width without the probable "fill-in", (I hope).
...
After looking at these, compare them to my first posting and decide which line width you like better and I'll make the correction. [/size]

Martynn,
Thanks for your patience in my response. I was talking with Donnie and offered to print him out the decals. But then I realized I needed a PDF version to get the resolution. Is it possible that you could add that here on the forum? If not feel free to email it to me.

Thanks!

Matthew

[AEyssen]

I’d love a set if possible. Willing to pay printing / shipping.

[dobro1956]

Matt and Martynn, the rev-1a drawings look good to my eye except eggs and butter on the type A do not look like the "scrunched together" letters in the photo of my type A. I believe they have to be "scrunched together" on the type A, to fit into the shorter recess caused by the area for the finger pull handle. As long as the overall length of those words is the same as I mentioned in my post above, I think everything should work OK. It appears that they "scrunched" them to keep the end margins the same or similar in both lengths of recesses to match or appear similar to the two drawers below the eggs/butter drawer. The eggs margin is bigger but probably is a compromise to keep the font the same in eggs/butter words.

[Allan]

Martynn, you're a bit harsh on the "idiot assemblers". The rivets they were given have heads larger than the reliefs in the artwork outline. Perhaps the blame lies with the designer who made the reliefs for the rivets too small.
Allan from down under.

[VowellArt]

Allan, you're absolutely right, probably not the assemblers fault at all! Probably the Designer/Engineer who drew up the assembly in the first place (I've had my "beat head against wall" moments with a good many of those folks in the past), but even after all the checks and rechecks that their department does, their department heads would send the designs to the "Visual Communications Department". A rather fancy term for Photo, Art, Reproduction and Book Binding....my department , knowing full well that if there was any mistake(s)...we'd find it (and we always did). However it never hurts to have extra sets of eyes on any project, something that Henry Ford left most times to everybody from the engineer who designed whatever part it was on down to the customer who would either fix it themselves or drag it back to the Dealer to scratch their heads over to figure out how to fix whatever it was.

I'm thinking that the reason for rivets of that size is because whatever is on the other side of that lid needed them to affix it firmly to the top of the lid....like a handle to open the lid with, maybe? So maybe what they should've done was make that stupid logo bigger (since they went through the expense of make a silk screen anyway).

[VowellArt]

Okay, Donnie and Matt; I've had a spot of trouble with my program (the subscription ran out), so I've had to resort to "free trial" versions. The one I'm using currently is the basic one and is seriously limited in what I can do and or how I can do it and since it is a "Free Trial" I've got a limited amount of time to use it (currently 12 days). So what this means is that I've got to finish what I was working on when things went ka-blooy on me and quit. Then I can make whatever corrections you need, post them here for your approval and then translate them into PDF's and send them directly to you guys, how's that sound? I'll also post them here on the Forum as well, but they'll be in JPG format.

If my trail copy quits on me, not to worry, there are 3 different versions of this program and the other two offer a "Free Trial" as well, I'll offload the one I'm using (and would never buy anyway because of it's "limitations" design-wise) and load one of the others and continue on as I've already suggested. One way or t'other we'll get this stuff done!

[dobro1956]

Martin, thanks for all the effort you have put into this project ...

[Matt in California]

Martynn,
I hope all is going well for you. Sorry to hear about your PDF headache!

Donnie and I both agree what you have come up with looks great! I would just need the PDF. (I tried to print what is in the gallery here on the forum and couldn’t seem to get that format to work.) I believe the PDF will keep the crisp lines and size.

Thanks so much!!!

Matt