J.W. Burleson photo / Boquillas del Carmen, Coah.

PHB

My photo
Brooklin, Maine, United States
We own a 1975 GMC Sierra Grande 15 in Maine and a 1986 Chevrolet Custom Deluxe 10 in West Texas. Also a pair of 1997 Volvo 850 wagons. Average age in the fleet is 28 years--we're recycling. I've published 3 novels: THE LAW OF DREAMS (2006), THE O'BRIENS (2012), and CARRY ME (2016). Also 2 short story collections: NIGHT DRIVING(1987) and TRAVELLING LIGHT (2013). More of my literary life is at www.peterbehrens.org I was a Fellow at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study for 2012-13. I'm an adjunct professor at Colorado College and in the MFA program at Queens University of Charlotte. In 2015-16 I was a Fellow at Harvard University's Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. The Autoliterate office is in Car Talk Plaza in Harvard Square, 2 floors above Dewey Cheatem & Howe. SUBSCRIBE TO THE AUTOLITERATE DAILY EMAIL by hitting the button to the right.

Friday, September 18, 2015

Boston Truck Language

Over the years I have noticed there is a particular and old-fashioned style of lettering and pin-striping used on many commercial trucks in eastern Massachusetts. This may be an exalted example of the genre. How to describe the style? I will be gathering more examples to make my point but you do see some of the elements here, notably the traditional font. with letters shadowed in a 3-D script and often in gilt. Pin-striping often frames the door, or whichever body panel is lettered--though you don't see that here. I've never read about Mass. truck lettering or seen it investigated. I'm not aware of another city or state with its own style of truck decoration, but the subject is of some fascination to Autoliterate, and we shall be investigating further. The Sullivan truck is a beauty. Pickup trucks just look better without an extended cab. What's interesting is that the lettering gives no clue as to what business, if any, M.A. Sullivan is engaged in. Perhaps he just wanted to have his name and the Suilleabhean coat of arms on his truck.

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