| I think you're right. I also believe that it's more likely that the font was informed by what was commonly taught as good lettering for technical drawings in that era. For example, consider the one-stroke gothic lettering in 1883's Standard Lettering, published by the Columbia School of Drafting: https://archive.org/details/standardletterin00claf/page/42/m... And here's A TEXT-BOOK OF FREE-HAND LETTERING, part of the TECHNICAL DRAWING SERIES, first published in 1895: https://archive.org/details/textbookoffreeha00daniiala/page/... Consider the "single-stroke lettering" suggested in that texbook: https://archive.org/details/textbookoffreeha00daniiala/page/... https://archive.org/details/textbookoffreeha00daniiala/page/... Also consider the model forms for pre-penciled gothic lettering: https://archive.org/details/textbookoffreeha00daniiala/page/... It seems that such lettering was already common when the machines were introduced to produce similar lettering. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3
Playing cards use this style of lettering. Not sure how far back that goes but I kind of doubt they all derive from Gorton's specific engraving machines.