The Manicule: Always Pointing Fingers

The Classic Letterpress 'cut' Is Alive and Kicking in Digital Age.

You know the manicule, don’t you? In its most primal form, it’s Adam’s finger touching God’s in the paintings by Michaelangelo in the Sistine Chapel, which dates back to 1473.

Gutenberg universalized Adam’s finger, now more commonly known as the manicule with the printing press. Adam’s long finger was considerably shortened for space reasons. Now the manicule is used nearly everywhere: it’s on the hanging sign swinging outside a storefront, directing you to a restaurant inside. It’s at the bottom of a postcard, directing you to a website address. You even get it in electronic documents: a forefinger jabbing you real-time to sign, sign sign the online piece of paper already. My favorite use to date is how two manicules point inward on the paperback edition of True Grit. These two fingers proclaim The Classic Novel.

It’s gratifying to see the manicule alive and well in the digital age. With the advent of lasercut machinery, it’s also become politically correct, available in different skin tones with lady-like fingernails and dainty handcuffs.

Even so, there’s a group of collectors that seek out old original ‘type-high’ manicules, made in metal and attached to a wood base. These well-worn and loved manicules often show up on eBay, where they’re snapped up.

So imagine my delight when I found a small manicule in an Arlington Heights, Ill. antique shop this weekend. I can’t say this is the beginning of a collection but I’ll definitely use it in type-in posters, postcards and more. I’m eager to see what kind of detail will show up once I make a test-print on my provisional printing press. I can see some detail on the sleeve now, we’ll what comes to light with some ink and pressure.

What’s the most innovative use you’ve seen for a manicule?

On a related note, I also spotted typewriter ink ribbon containers at another antique shop. I really adore vintage images of airplanes. One in particular got my attention but it didn’t come home with me. Maybe it should have. What kind of typewriter ribbon containers are you collecting and how do you display them or re-use them? I think it would be great to display them on a magnetic wall so that the lids with their graphic design can be prominently display.

Finally, I love seeing old baseball posters. I once saw one framed in a Cedarburg, Wisconsin pizzeria that I didn’t photograph. With the World Series 2024, I had to snap a picture of these two at antique shop. Anyone collect these?

This poster is for sale at Oakton Street Antique Center in Mount Prospect, Illinois.

Also at Oakton Street Antique Centre, in a different booth. A compelling image from a different era.

I love studying the different typefaces used, the color combinations, the old photos and wonder where they were printed, whether any of the wood typefaces still exist. I love how the words Wrigley Field is in quotation marks. I wonder why.

Finally, here’s my manicule.

My manicule points to the Coca-Cola letterpress block, also acquired at Oakton Street Antique Centre. My favorite in-the-wild find is the old three-bank typewriter block, found at a Milwaukee antique shop.