An ongoing page to try to document the still-standing buildings of former type foundries or their offices. This page will continue to expand as more locations are tracked down.
>>If you know of others that aren’t listed here, let us know! <<
Keystone Type Foundry in Philadelphia, was established by Francis Wayland Ayer who in 1869
created the advertising agency, N. W. Ayer & Son in Philadelphia. In 1888 they opened the Keystone Type Foundry when they they bought the Mather Manufacturing Company(a printer's supply house) in 1884, located at 734–740 Sansom Street. Ayer realized the potential in trading with newspapers. They had lots of space for advertisements but needed printing materials and type more than cash. Ayer bought Mather for that reason and established Keystone to be able to get more ad space for his clients in newspapers. The foundry was active until 1917 when it was purchased by American Type Founders.
“The company goes back to the book printer Johann Jacob Genath. Johann Wilhelm Haas had been running the company under his name since 1740. In the 19th century the company experienced economic turmoil and was sold several times until Max Krayer took over in 1903, whose nephew, Eduard Hoffmann, had been with the company since 1917 and succeeded him. In 1921 the foundry moved out of the city of Basel to Münchenstein. Converted into a stock corporation in 1927, the foundries Berthold, and D. Stempel AG took part in the operation. In 1974 the company Deberny & Peignot was acquired, in 1978 the company Olive, Marseille and in 1990 the Societá Nebiolo, Turin. In 1989 the foundry was taken over by Linotype AG and the foundry continued as Fruttiger AG.” — Klingspor Museum
In 1878 Giovanni Nebiolo bought Giacomo Narizzano's type foundry(founded 1852). When the Levi brothers joined the company in 1889, the company operated as Nebiolo & Comp. Printing machine construction began in 1890. In 1899 the company became a stock corporation. Over the years it took over a number of other foundries. For some time the company was called Società
Augusta, but around 1917 it was again called Nebiolo & Comp. In 1978 the company went bankrupt, and the automobile manufacturer Fiat took over the operation. 1990 the font foundry went to Fruttiger AG in Münchenstein.—Klinspor Museum
Keystone Type Foundry, Philadelphia
Haas Type Foundry (Haas’sche Schriftgiesserei), Münchenstein, Switzerland
Nebiolo, Turin, Italy