Blue Pencil no.7A—Helvetica and the New York City Subway System: The (Mostly) True Story

My posting of mistakes in Helvetica and the New York City Subway System immediately led to a few other mistakes being sent my way. Jackson Cavanaugh has pointed out the following errors:

p. 27 “They commissioned a new logo from Sundberg-Ferar, an industrial design firm responsible for designing a new subway car, and they created special strip maps (set in Futura) for use on the no. 7 Flushing Line (fig. 270).” The reference for the TA logo should be fig. 269.

p. 30 “In the summer Noorda flew to New York to carry out a detailed survey of the traffic flow at five key subway stations: Times Square, Grand Central Station, Broadway/Nassau, Jay Street and Queensborough Plaza (figs. 31–32).” The reference for the Noorda drawings should be figs. 81–82.

Peter B. Lloyd, who is working with Mark Ovenden on a book surveying the history of New York City subway maps, has also pointed out that the TA logo designed by Sundberg-Ferar appeared on the cover of the 1964 New York World’s Fair subway map. This is earlier than the date of 1965 which I cite for the creation of the logo. (See p. 122 Chronology entry for 1965.)