DIY push button labels

[mgutierres]

One detail that always seems tough on these old radios is getting the pushbutton labels to look right. I've seen many that use a generic font which looks neat and tidy, but not quite correct. There are still some NOS label sheets floating around out there, but how sad to butcher such an historic document for the few labels that you want. Also, there are a few new and changed call signs out there you may want to use (alas, our old friend WMAQ is now...what? FAN something?)

I'm a graphic designer, and I've put a good deal of thought and research into this question. Here's the result of my research:

It's always best to start from the original, and I think there are still quite a few old pushbutton Philcos that have at least one or two of their old labels still clinging to their bezels. Treat them like the artifacts that they are! Carefully remove them, and place them on a scanner if you have one.

Here's what one of my 41-295 labels looks like:


I found that the typeface ITC Franklin Gothic Extra Compressed is the correct one for this label. Helvetica, or Arial in any of their forms are definitely NOT CORRECT! Helvetica wasn't available until 1957, and Arial is a rip-off of Helvetica, not available pre-Microsoft. Here's how it looks overlaid on the original label:


You can see how the actual printed piece softens the edges and rounds the corners, but the basic shapes of the letters are exactly the same. I have found very wide variations in the spacing of the individual call letters from set to set: some, like the WGIL above are very close, but others are much more widely set. It really depends on what fills out the space the best. The most important thing is to space the letters consistently for all the pushbuttons on your radio, whether narrow or wide, just stick with the same spacing all the way across.

Once I got the spacing right, then exported each label to a layout program (you could do it all in Photoshop or its equivalent if you want, but I prefer InDesign), and printed them from my laser printer to 90 lb. manilla card stock:


I think this works better than pure white card stock because it gives a bit of color to the letters, and it looks a bit more natural, especially next to an original label, which was probably white at one time. I then "laminated" them with clear packing tape, burnished to a high gloss, and from there I simply cut out the labels and carefully placed them into the slots in your bezel. I've run out of picture slots in this message, so let me know if you want to see more.

Thanks,

Mike

[Ron Ramirez]

Mike - excellent information, and thanks very much for sharing! I am going to make this topic a "sticky" so it remains near the top of this page.

Question - where can we obtain this "ITC Franklin Gothic Extra Compressed" font?

Thank you again for the great post!

[mgutierres]

You can buy a copy from myfonts.com (the font is here: http://new.myfonts.com/fonts/urw/frankli...mpressed/) for $19. If you're brave, you can try a free version at freefonty.com (http://freefonty.com/download-itc-franklin-gothic-free/ and scroll down to "Download ITC Franklin Gothic LT Book Extra Compressed). I'm wary of free download sites like these, so I haven't tried it, but it might work without problems.

[gary rabbitt]

Hi guys,
Here are 2 sheets of Philco call tabs I scanned. There is also a third vertical style which was a reverse image of a black on white sheet.

You can copy/ paste letters together to make custom calls.
Enjoy!

http://antiqueradios.com/gallery/d/75369-1/Call2.jpg

http://antiqueradios.com/gallery/d/75366-1/Call1.jpg

http://antiqueradios.com/gallery/d/97393...versed.jpg

[LASJayhawk]

I tried using the scans, then putting them into paint and cut and pasting as required. Worked great......as long as there is no 'W' in the call letters. Winders no a handle the "w", it cones out smeared.

Another reason to get a iMac.

[billp]

I found another source for this font:

http://www.fontyukle.net/en/1,franklin+gothic

The site is run by donations, so donate or not, it's up to you. The download is still free and it works. You just need to add the .ttf extension (rename it) on the filename, if it's not there, and copy it to your windows/fonts directory. I don't know about Mac. It works for me. Anytime I download a file from an unfamiliar site, I always run a virus scan on that file before I do anything with it. Better safe than sorry.