Letterheads 50th: Letter Perfect

“I REMEMBER WHEN…” A phrase I hear a lot at sign shows, and sometimes say, as well. I’ve been going to them since 1993. Never was this more the case than at the Letterheads’ 50th Anniversary, June 20-22, at the American Sign Museum in Cincinnati — and one might understand why.

The Letterheads are a group of sign artists originating in Denver in 1975, but they’ve been expanding all over the world since. The most senior Letterheads certainly remember pre-computer-and-vinyl signwork, when paint and brush ruled. Here we are 50 years on, the preponderance of brushwork consigned to “I remember when…”

But the past is present with the Letterheads. I’ve been acquainted with them for nearly a third of a century, and I was both amazed and encouraged by the large number of 20- to 40-year old sign pros in attendance. These young people, many participating in their first Letterhead “meet,” were welcomed, valued, fostered and informed that someday, they will be mentoring the next generation.

From my brief glimpse, traditional signpainting and design look to be in eager, capable and yes, young hands!

Let them be a lesson if you subscribe to this mindset, a response to our latest Real Deal scenario: “People under 50 [!] are lazy, always on their phone and smoke weed. Really a useless generation… They all want to make $30/hr., come in late, take long lunches and leave early. No work ethic.”

Luckily for the sign industry, not everyone believes that, and not only the Letterheads.