F. W. Woolworth decals

You may have to pull the image from the web and print it out yourself. You can also get some of that inkjet decal material from MicroMark or other sources and make your own decals. I've found almost every conceivable image is obtainable on a Google search.

I have a Woolworth sign I made in Photoshop that's about 1/2" x 6". It is gold letters on a red background. If you can't find what you need I'll be happy to email you the file. I plan to print the sign on inkjet labels and attach to styrene sheet before mounting on the building facade.  

I am interested, Lionel Grandpa.  Is that the font used by Woolworth's on their buildings?

i can make you a laser engraved sign any size you need. you can look at the post: thanks to member 69nickeycamaro for these

with the laser engraved sign the lettering will stand out just like the real sign.

Another option is to get some raised alphabets at a craft store. I have found some in script similar to what Kresge and Woolworth used on their stores and for many years the letters were raised vs simply paint.

Pete

That's the way I remember it Pete!  That awning to boot, would be nice.

Try Christine Braden at CLB custom painting on facebook.

Forty Rod,

     We can make that for you for $8.00 USD ea.

     Please contact us off forum.

Dave, LBR

Okay, now THAT'S the sign I'm looking for..... and you bring up another issue: Lee Willis said he used directory board lettering, so I ordered some.  Works fine except the smallest I can find are 1/2" and most are larger, and there seem to be only three fonts.

Does anyone have other options.  (I live in Prescott valley, AZ and the only hobby supply source is Hobby Lobby and they frankly don't have much I can use.

Thanks.

The font I used is not a match to the store photo shown here. If I adjust it in Photoshop I can probably get more horizontal elongation to make it closer in appearance to the photo.

I'm not as familiar as I'd like to be with Photoshop.  If you elongated it could you also erase the 5 and 10 cent store lettering from the sign and center the other lettering, and still make it come out to 6" long?

Another, and slightly more technical, way to handle this would be to import the bitmapped image into a vector drawing program like Adobe Illustrator or CorelDraw and trace the lettering to turn it into a vector drawing. Once in this form you can stretch, shrink, change spacing, or do anything else you'd like. For the uninitiated, bitmap images (like those created by your cell phone) ascribe a color, brightness, etc, to each specific pixel that comprises the picture. The number of pixels that originally created the image creates the resolution of the picture. If you magnify the image, as you do if you enlarge the picture or crop it and then enlarge it, you begin to see the underlying pixels creating the blocky, "Mindcrafty" look. Bitmap images are held captive by their original resolution.

Vectors, on the other hand, ascribe a mathematical calculation to the lines making up the image. There are no pixels involved, therefore; there are no resolution problems. A vector drawing can be shrunk or enlarged without any loss of resolution. If you take a screen print of a vector image, you once again turn it back into a bitmap and again are captive by the resolution of the imaging system. Most computer screens resolve 72 dots per inch so the pixel size is very large and screen printed images enlarge poorly which is why magazine articles require the minimum resolution to be 300 dpi.

Yes, that should be possible. Let me see what I can do. 

Let me know how it turns out, Lionel.

I'm recreating all the places I've worked or that have had some importance  in my life, not exact copies, but representations..... like the FWW store will be a Plasticville 5 and 10 cent store.  A Plasticville diner became the Bluebird campus cafe at Utah State U. where I met my wife in 1964, a K-Line gas station is a Signal station that my cousin owned in California in 1963, etc.

How is that coming along?

As for raised white plastic alphabet letters, they may be hard to find these days in the size you need.

Decals won’t do for what you want to model.

Try here – http://www.amazon.com/Ghent-Pl...0GJMA9PNAQ1G9VGF1X0N

Ghent Plastic Letter Replacement Unit, Gothic, 3/4-Inch, White

Helvetica letters used on those black felt welcome signs can be a bit pricy.

They are a 60’s & 70’s thing of the past.

I've never seen them in a crafts store.

Office supply only - NOS

Sirt

great post!

Slaters in the UK still offers raised lettering. They are available in two font styles and a number of heights. Unfortunately the Serif style only comes in 7mm and 13mm heights. I found some at the Kimberton, PA narrow gauge meet which caters to finescale modelers. There may be other sources on this side of the pond.

https://slatersplastikard.com/...fs/AlphabetFlyer.pdf

Pete

Very reasonable, Dave.  What do you need from me to get this going? I'll be unavailable until the 9th but would like to see what you can do.

Tom(gun.slick@juno.com.)

Tom,

     Here is a set of decals we produced some time ago for an F.W. WOOLWORTH box car. Of course it shows better in the hand than a scanned photo. The GOLD print is METALLIC GOLD.

Dave, LBR

Dave, Those look great for 2D. The black outline gives a good 3D impression. I would be interested in a few sets but lettered for SS Kresge which had a similar font like this:

Pete

Pete,

     Funny you should mention KRESGE. Here is a scan of a set we did for a KRESGE box car.

Dave, LBR

It just struck me, with all this talk on another post of 3D printers this is just the thing that would be a slam dunk with a 3D printer, raised letter signs.

Jerry

i think a laser etched sign would look much better since you can make it the size you need plus it has the raised detail. these are sign i have made.

Okay, looks like I'm going to take a shot at this and a J. C. Penney sign as well.

I contacted two of the suppliers who responded, even sent money to one, and haven't heard diddley squat since.  Been over four weeks for one of them and haven't even received a reply.

Any suggestions?

Woolworth's and Kresge's.....a nostalgia trip.  Were there legit, prototype boxcars

for these retailers?

I was waiting for the outcome, and interested in a set. Who did you send an order to?

Create the sign in any graphics or word program that will work for you. 

Load it on a flash drive. Take it to the office supply places that have printing......have them print on photo paper. Cut out...apply glue and attach. Cost?? Less than $2. If you have no way of making the sign....let me know I can. 

Here......a very close sign for anyone to use. Best printed on gloss photo paper. 

Just download and print. Please just for personal use guys......thx 

Nice job AMC!

Just about anything can be done on the PC using a nice photo printer.

I printed out the file with my Epson R280 and the signage looks real.

I also printed out 2 ACL logos for my SCL passenger car line up as well.

All of my signs and graphics are done that way using thin quality photo paper.

There is only one draw back. You can't print metallic. The F.W. WOOLWORTH and others had bright gold metallic letters.

Dave, LBR

Don't you print with a ALPS printer???

This solution is for someone that wants to spend $1 on the signs. I am sure you can give someone wanting metallic gold version. But if it's $1 I'll order some myself as it cost me a lot more than that to print on my ALPS.  Thx

Yes, we print with an ALPS. Not everyone including the local office supply does though.

Dave, LBR

I know of ZERO ALPS out there for general public use. 

That's why I stated you might supply true gold print......

BUT.....when I was in the custom decal biz as soon as I quoted a price (back when ALPS ink was $5 each) often folks ran away even though it was less than a quote today would be. 

What I provided was for people happy with a gold/brown lettering for free or next to it. 

Once back in the 60's I had to climb up on a ladder with cleaning solution and steel wool and clean those brass Woolworth letters.  On three sides of the store!  Took me all day. But working there was probably the most fun job I ever had.

My mother worked for Woolworth's for a while, clerking in a store in a strip mall, kind

of in an unusual location, but in a high traffic area between a large city and several

bedroom suburbs.  This while I was in high school.  I helped set up a new W. T. Grant's store in a strip mall in the city, as a summer job later.  I remember cutting the glass

for those on-counter display squares all the dime stores used to use.  It was not long

after that, that discount big boxes arose, first local and regional ones, and my mother

worked at one of those, and then K-Mart, and dime stores faded away.  If somebody

offered a decent model or kit of FWW or WTG, I would try to incorporate it into my

largest town. (Western Auto, too, if they were in Colorado in 1940)