This company was founded in 1892 (as American Type Founders Co.) with the merger of twenty-three type foundries. By the 1920s they were the dominant force in the typesetting industry, offering everything from fonts to entire printing plants. Industry changes and the Great Depression led to ATF declaring bankruptcy in 1933. They emerged from the ashes as American Type Founders, Inc. Various bankruptcies and sales followed over the ensuing decades, and the company is essentially gone.

At some point between 1932 and 1939 this company bought out C. B. Nelson & Co., makers of a small printer's saw—a tablesaw intended for cutting type but that can also be used for small-scale woodworking.

Information Sources

• Considerable historical information on this company can be found with a Google search.
• We have seen an ATF saw with four patents listed on it, the first two being granted to Christian B. Nelson, and the second two assigned to ATF. The first of the four patents has been seen on a C. B. Nelson & Co. saw. See the Patents section, below.
• According to a web page on Kingsley/ATF fonts, "Foundries that were incorporated into ATF include: Barnhart Brothers & Spindler (1911); Binny & Ronaldson (1892); Boston Type Foundry (1892); Bruce Type Foundry (1901); Central Type Foundry (1893); Farmer, Little & Co. (1892); Inland Type Foundry (1912). By the 1920s ATF was the dominant player in the world’s printing equipment market. Not just fonts, but entire printing plants were on offer. This strong position did not continue, due to the ever-changing nature of the printing industry."