Origin of the name 'Highway Gothic'

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Sam Laybutt

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Feb 10, 2021, 4:50:30 AM2/10/21

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What is the origin of the name 'Highway Gothic' in reference to the FHWA/AS1744 fonts?

It's not an official name, but seems to have been quite well adopted by the general public for a colloquial name. Does it date back to m.t.r?

roe...@gmx.net

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Feb 10, 2021, 5:34:34 AM2/10/21

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So far as I know, the FHWA (or someone else) at one stage digitized the standard alphabets then used in the FHWA manuals, and started selling these under the name Highway Gothic.

Why that name? Well, the “Highway” part speaks for itself. “Gothic” is typography speak for a type of sans-serif font. So not a reference to the medieval style usually associated with the word gothic.

Best,

Mees

On 10/02/2021 at 10:50, Sam Laybutt wrote:

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