And of course, the rear signage of Grumpy’s in downtown Minneapolis, one of the best uses of Windsor in the city. Windsor is at its finest when it’s used on a bar sign. What looks merely dated in the context of small businesses signage looks classic in the context of a bar. Especially a bar like Grumpy’s, where rock and roll people hang out. Extra points for two things: (1) the fact that this is a neon sign and it glows red at night, and (2) for that gorgeous ampersand. (Also note the redacted E at the end of GRILLE.)
Walking towards this last night with my phone held at eye level so I could take this blurry photograph of it, I ran into my friend Glenn, who was exiting the bar.
“What are you shooting?” he asked.
“That sign,” I said. “See that typeface? It’s called Windsor. It’s…”
He stopped me. “Oh, yes, Windsor. It’s beautiful. Those letters are objects.” And then he told me everything he knew about Windsor, and the way he admired the slope of the serifs, and the enlarged bowls, and how it looks great bold or condensed, and other uses he’d noted of it over the years, including on the masthead of one of the great Chicago newspapers. Glenn is my kind of guy.
