Here we have an antique letterpress advertising sign for W. F. Talg, who paid the right market price for all kinds of iron. His address was Hustler, Wisconsin. That is the town's actual name. Hustler is a small village in Juneau County, reportedly named because its original settlers were considered “hustlers” - people full of energy and push.
Now look at IRON. Each letter is shaped like a hardware strap and bolted down with slotted screw heads. Four screws hold the R, the O and the N. The narrow I gets two. Those screw heads print as bare card, so the paper itself plays the steel.
Above it, RIGHT MARKET PRICE rises in tall condensed Victorian capitals pierced with tiny diamond windows. BY W. F. TALG wears little spurs. HUSTLER holds the bottom line in a heavy slab serif. It is the correct weight for that word. In hand the card is stiff, with a soft toothy surface. Every letter carries a fine dark rim where ink squeezed out under the press. Talg was hunting scrap. His sign outlived the hunt by more than a century and now needs a new keeper.
The sign was printed for W. F. Talg of Hustler, Juneau County, Wisconsin. No printer's mark appears on either side. My searches have not turned up Talg in the records yet, so the name stands as printed. It came to me from an old estate in western Wisconsin.
The 19th century bold broadside measures 9 1/2” by 12 5/8”. Printing is dark and fully legible on the front. A tide-line water stain runs from the left margin through the I and down toward HUSTLER. Below HUSTLER a darker stain reaches the bottom edge. The surface there has skinned away in small patches, with hairline cracks in the card face at lower left. Gray grime and toning shadow the bottom and right margins. Scattered foxing appears across the field, plus a dark spot to the right of the N. Faint stray specks sit between F. and WIS. Corners show light rubbing, with a small bump at upper right. On the reverse, foxing clusters at upper right and a water stain runs along the right edge. Two strips of old tape remain at the bottom edge, with a lifted spot beside one of them. A dark spot sits near the left margin. The card lies flat with no tears through it that I can see. Please see all pics as they are part of the description.
I ship FedEx to street addresses in the continental USA only (no PO Boxes). Free shipping on the hardest-working sign in Hustler.
Look at those screws!
