Vtg Stencils IDEAL No.1

The design of the Ideal stencil machine No.1 was drawn from authentic 1 inch stencils, from an early (ca. 1920s) Ideal No.1 machine. Later models use punches and dies with a more rounded type design and some slightly modified characters such as the letters N, M, W and the number 5.

Signature letters are B, G, M, Q, & and the numbers 2, 3 and 5.



Attention: If you have access to the other Ideal machines and can scan a type specimen or send me stencils, I will pay you for your efforts. I'm looking for samples of the Big Ideal (2") and Ideal No.2 (5/8"), and Quarter (¼") and the Cyrillic versions.

A brief intro to the Ideal Stenicl Machine Co.

In 1911, inventor George Remnsnider and a group of investors founded the Ideal Stencil Machine Co. in Belleville, Illinois, USA.

The Ideal company was the third stencil machine company after Bradley and Diagraph.

The Ideal machines had some unique features and were dubbed «the typewriter of stencil cutting». The oil board was clamped on a movable carriage, similar to a typewriter. The line spacing could be reduced and the machines had automated character spacing and carriage return. They were intended to be more economical than the Bradley and Diagraph models. The letter spacing was tighter and the stencil type size range was slightly different to competitor models.

The first model No.1 (1") was shown in public at the National Business Show in St. Louis, in 1913. and followed by model No.2 (5/8") in April 1913 and No.3 (7/16") in 1916. For a long time, these three models remained the machines Ideal manufactured.

Ideal stencil machines, such as those made by competitors Bradley and Diagraph, were used by the U.S. Army and Navy in World War I, World War II, the Korean War and later.

Please visit the Ideal Stencil commemorative website for in deep information on the Ideal company and its machines.