Tuesday, February 8, 2011

A mother's hand


We've been so sporty lately! Superbowl's over, but a short visit to the Steeler Nation (aka the Eastern PA division of Pat's family, to watch the game) yielded a Pittsburgh treasure that to me is far greater than Big Ben Roethlisberger: recipe cards that Pat's mom handwrote when youngest son/bro left the nest. I'm astounded by the beautiful handwriting, especially the swash "T."

Another of Grace O'Neill's recipes has a gorgeous "heading" for the "Ham Loaf", written with the thoughtful care she put into everything. The letterforms are gorgeous, far fancier than you'd expect/spec for a loaf with ham etc. If I were typecasting, I'd set a bold sans. This is better—and honors the home cooking of a family without vast resources. Humbling!



Note to self: see if the baby digital camera works on macro; good tip, Suz!

2 comments:

Suzanne Dell'Orto said...

She is a Pittsburgh treasure! As discussed, it must be in the water those Pittburgh moms are drinking...Andy Warhol, Pittsburgh's native son, often used his mother's (Julia Warhola) handwriting in his artwork, and she even won awards for her lettering.
http://www.warhola.com/andysmother.html

Beth Tondreau said...

Great stuff. Warhol's early fashion illustrations "stole" / appropriated / paid homage to his mother's style.