History Main / FontAnachronism

* ''Series/TheCrown2016'': An unusual one relating to Arabic script. Arabic-language signage in the Egypt scenes in Seasons 1 and 2 (centering on the [[UsefulNotes/ArabIsraeliConflict Suez Crisis]] of 1956) is invariably [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naskh_(script) Naskh]]--and in a particularly straight-lined variant that, while it existed in the 1950s, was really only used in newspapers until the 1970s, and even today really isn't all that common as a display typeface except in its bold form (which the signage often isn't). Arabic signage at the time would have generally used curvier Naskh if they used it at all; more typically, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruq%CA%BFah_script Ruq`ah]],[[note]]For an energetic or informal feel, or just if the signwriter was being lazy--it's the closest to the handwriting of the day[[/note]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diwani Diwani]],[[note]]To evoke the majesty of royalty, being based on the calligraphy of the Ottoman court[[/note]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thuluth Thuluth]][[note]]For old-school elegance and religious connotations--ornamental calligraphy in mosques is often in Thuluth[[/note]] or [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kufic Kufic]][[note]]For its eye-catching geometric style and its evocation of early Islam[[/note]] would be used as display scripts in Arabic in the 1950s (and we say "scripts" because in the 50s these signs would almost invariably be hand-lettered).

* ''Series/TheCrown2016'': An unusual one relating to Arabic script. Arabic-language signage in the Egypt scenes in Seasons 1 and 2 (centering on the [[UsefulNotes/ArabIsraeliConflict Suez Crisis]] of 1956) is invariably [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naskh_(script) Naskh]]--and in a particularly straight-lined variant that, while it existed in the 1950s, was really only used in newspapers until the 1970s, and even today really isn't all that common as a display typeface except in its bold form (which the signage often isn't). Arabic signage at the time would have generally used curvier Naskh if they used it at all; more typically, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruq%CA%BFah_script Ruq`ah]],[[note]]For an energetic or informal feel, or just if the signwriter was being lazy--it's the closest to the handwriting of the day[[/note]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diwani Diwani]],[[note]]To evoke the majesty of royalty, being based on the calligraphy of the Ottoman court[[/note]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thuluth Thuluth]][[note]]For old-school elegance and religious connotations--ornamental calligraphy in mosques is often in Thuluth[[/note]] or [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kufic Kufic]][[note]]For its eye-catching geometric style and its evocation of early Islam[[/note]] would be used as display scripts in Arabic (and we say "scripts" because these signs would almost invariably be hand-lettered).

* ''Series/TheCrown2016'': An unusual one relating to Arabic script. Arabic-language signage in the Egypt scenes in Seasons 1 and 2 (centering on the [[UsefulNotes/ArabIsraeliConflict Suez Crisis]] of 1956) is invariably [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naskh_(script) Naskh]]--and in a particularly straight-lined variant that, while it existed in the 1950s, was really only used in newspapers until the 1970s, and even today really isn't all that common as a display typeface except in its bold form (which the signage often isn't). Arabic signage at the time would have generally used curvier Naskh if they used it at all; more typically, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruq%CA%BFah_script Ruq`ah]],[[note]]For an energetic or informal feel, or just if the signwriter was being lazy--it's the closest to the handwriting of the day[[/note]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diwani Diwani]],[[note]]To evoke the majesty of royalty, being based on the calligraphy of the Ottoman court[[/note]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thuluth Thuluth]][[note]]For old-school elegance and religious connotations[[/note]] or [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kufic Kufic]][[note]]For its eye-catching geometric style and its evocation of early Islam[[/note]] would be used as display scripts in Arabic (and we say "scripts" because these signs would almost invariably be hand-lettered).

* ''Series/TheCrown2016'': An unusual one relating to Arabic script. Arabic-language signage in the Egypt scenes in Seasons 1 and 2 (centering on the [[UsefulNotes/ArabIsraeliConflict Suez Crisis]] of 1956) is invariably [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naskh_(script) Naskh]]--and in a particularly straight-lined variant that, while it existed in the 1950s, was really only used in newspapers until the 1970s, and even today really isn't all that common as a display typeface except in its bold form (which the signage often isn't). Arabic signage at the time would have generally used curvier Naskh if they used it at all; more typically, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruq%CA%BFah_script Ruq`ah]], [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diwani Diwani]], [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T

* ''Film/TheQueen'' shows the numberplate on the Range Rover as having the new style 'Charles Wright' font, which was introduced in September 2001.

* Some of the first cracks in the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killian_documents_controversy Bush Air National Guard documents story]] came from font enthusiasts who noticed that the supposedly typewritten documents used a proportionally spaced font and superscripting, things that weren't possible on a typewriter.[[note]]Sub- and Superscripting ''are'' possible on a typewriter by turning the drum wheel up or down a fraction of a line, but won't change the size of the type while most computer-based word processors do.

* Some of the first cracks in the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killian_documents_controversy Bush Air National Guard documents story]] came from font enthusiasts who noticed that the supposedly typewritten documents used a proportionally spaced font and superscripting, things that weren't possible on a typewriter.

* The documentary ''Martin Luther King and the March on Washington'' features a banner in Arial. Arial, the Helvetica-replica, wasn't invented until the 1980s.

* Comics from UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks that are featured in works may use Comic Sans as text in word balloons although it wasn't invented until 1994. These books typically used hand-lettering.[[note]]And still typically do, because Comic Sans is hideous. There are "hand-lettering" fonts that are much better, though.[[/note]]

* In ''Series/MadMen'', the sign on the original Sterling Cooper building is Gill Sans, which was not in popular use in the United States until the 1970s (of course, it's not ''impossible'', since Gill Sans was released in 1928 and was popular in its native Britain from the 1930s onward). There are other future fonts, mainly in shots of print ads: Fenice (1980), Balmoral (1978), ITC Kabel (1975), Bookman Old Style (1989), Zapfino (1998), and Gotham (2002) (although this one is tricky, since Gotham ''intentionally'' mimics older the styles of public-building lettering in New York from the 1930s to the 1960s). Of course, there were similar fonts--sometimes quite similar--to all of these in existence in the 1960s; presumably, this was a measure to save time and money.

* ''Disney/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'': A newspaper dated 1926 is printed in Times New Roman, which would not be designed until six years later.

* A common situation in works set in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII — while the Fraktur font is almost emblematic of Nazi Germany in fiction, the truth of the matter is a bit more complicated and actually [[SeriousBusiness a fairly contentious matter at the time]]. Germany at the time was split between two popular fonts — [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiqua%E2%80%93Fraktur_dispute the plain Latin style Antiqua, and the ornate Gothic style Fraktur]]. Being more "Germanic", Fraktur was in fact preferred by many of Hitler's supporters during their rise to power. However, [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler the man himself]] had no great love for Fraktur, believing Antiqua better suited to the modern "age of steel and iron, glass and concrete". Ultimately, the use of Fraktur for official purposes was discontinued in the beginning of 1941, not yet a third of the way through the war.

* The film ''Film/{{Chocolat}}'' features a poster whose words are typed in ITC Benguiat, a typeface invented in 1978. Unfortunately, the movie takes place in the 1950s, which means ITC Benguiat wasn't invented yet.

* [[http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2017/07/12/the_font_calibri_is_playing_a_surprising_role_in_a_pakistani_scandal.html A selection of documents]] purported to have been written in 2006 are suspected as being forgeries because the font they were written in, Calibri, didn't exist in Microsoft Word until the following year.

* In ''Film/{{Valkyrie}}'', on the banner with the inscription "Führer befiehl, wir folgen dir", the font used is a Fraktur type. This is extremely improbable, given that Hitler had banned all Fraktur types in 1941 while openly stating that they were of Jewish origin.

** Edit:If that were actually true why is "Mein Kampf" titled in such?
*** Because the order of January 3rd 1941 (signed by Martin Bormann) declaring Fraktur type to be "Jewish" and rejecting its use was applied strictly to government publications. Private printers, although strongly discouraged from using Fraktur types after January 3rd 1941, were not ''forbidden'' from using them. Many newspapers kept using Fraktur types for headlines and the newspapers' names. "Mein Kampf" was published by a private company, so the strict prohibition against Fraktur did not strictly apply to them (also, it possibly was cheaper to keep using the original plates from before, at least for the title page). Finally, the banning (presented in the form of a circular to all public offices) was actually true. A facsimile of the circular (the text is in standard latin letters but the letterhead is in Fraktur) is here [[http://www.ligaturix.de/bormann.htm]]. The translation into English [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraktur#cite_note-7 is here.]]

* [[http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2017/07/12/the_font_calibri_is_playing_a_surprising_role_in_a_pakistani_scandal.html A selection of documents]] purported to have been written in 2006 are suspected as being forgeries because the font they were written in, Calibri, didn't become the default font in Microsoft Word until the following year.

*** Because the order of January 3rd 1941 (signed by Martin Bormann) declaring Fraktur type to be "Jewish" and rejecting its use was applied strictly to government publications. Private printers, although strongly discouraged from using Fraktur types after January 3rd 1941, were not ''forbidden'' from using them. Many newspapers kept using Fraktur types for headlines and the newspapers' names. "Mein Kampf" was published by a private company, so the strict prohibition against Fraktur did not strictly apply to them (also, it possibly was cheaper to keep using the original plates from before, at least for the title page). Finally, the banning (presented in the form of a circular to all public offices) was actually true. A facsimile of the circular (the text is in standard latin letters but the letterhead is in Fraktur) is here [[http://www.ligaturix.de/bormann.htm]]. The translation into English is here [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraktur#cite_note-7]].

[[caption-width-right:350:[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotham_(typeface) What's the big deal? It's only a couple hundred years off]].]]

* The [[VideoGame/MyLittlePonyGameloft My Little Pony Gameloft Game]] uses the fan-made font called "Celestia-Redux", whereas [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic the show it's based on]] actually uses [[http://haroldsfonts.com/portfolio/generation-b/ Generation B]][[note]]itself based on the titling from ''Film/TheParentTrap''[[/note]].

* [[http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2017/07/12/the_font_calibri_is_playing_a_surprising_role_in_a_pakistani_scandal.html A selection of documents]] purported to have been written in 2006 are suspected as being forgeries because the font they were written in, Calibri, didn't become the default font until the following year.

[[caption-width-right:350:What's the big deal? It's only a couple hundred years off.]]

* In the series ''[[Series/DavincisDemons DaVinci's Demons]]'' a glaring example is on a building. It is the trope image above. The well-known typeface Gotham (2002) is seen on a Renaissance building. Gotham was invented in 2002. If the font mimicked historical styles, we could maybe give it a pass, but sans-serif styles didn't ''exist'' until the late 18th century. Gotham was based on popular types of the 1930s. What's a few centuries, eh?

* ''Film/TheGoodShepherd'' has a scene where, when Matt Damon steals a briefcase and reads a memo listing the Nazi party members - the title of the memo is set in Arial which wasn't available as a font until 1982. Furthermore, the memo looks laser copied rather than typed. The fact that this is a closeup view makes this a rather obvious mistake.
* In ''Film/BramStokersDracula'', we see a ticker tape typing out the message sent to Van Helsing from Dr. Seward. The type appears to be OCR (optical character reader) font which was not created until 1968.

* ''Film/ALeagueOfTheirOwn'' is set in 1943. The "Catch A Foul-Get A Kiss" banner is printed in the font "Banco", which was created in 1951.
* Critically-aclaimed film ''Film/TheArtist'' features an array of anachronistic and stylistically-questionable type treatments. Some of these are deliberate to evoke the silent-film era rather than copy it.

* In ''Series/MadMen'', the sign on the original Sterling Cooper building is Gill Sans, which was not in popular use in the United States until the 1970s (of course, it's not ''impossible'', since Gill Sans was released in 1928 and was popular in its native Britain from the 30s onward). There are other future fonts, mainly in shots of print ads: Fenice (1980), Balmoral (1978), ITC Kabel (1975), Bookman Old Style (1989), Zapfino (1998), and Gotham (2002) (although this one is tricky, since Gotham ''intentionally'' mimics older the styles of public-building lettering in New York from the 30s-60s). Of course, there were similar fonts--sometimes quite similar--to all of these in existence in the 1960s; presumably, this was a measure to save time and money.

* In the series ''[[Series/DavincisDemons DaVinci's Demons]]'' a glaring example is on a building. It is the trope image above. The well-known typeface Gotham (2002) is seen on a Renaissance building. Gotham was invented in 2002. If the font mimicked historical styles, we could maybe give it a pass, but sans-serif styles didn't ''exist'' until the late 1700s. Gotham was based on popular types of the 1930s. What's a few centuries, eh?

* The [[VideoGame/MyLittlePonyGameloft My Little Pony Gameloft Game]] uses the fan-made font called "Celestia-Redux", whereas [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic the show it's based on]] actually uses "Generation B".

* ''Film/{{Titanic 1997}}'' features Helvetica on some of the gauges on the ship. Titanic takes place in 1912. Helvetica is invented 45 years later.
** Although apparently there were several proto-Helvetica fonts in existence in 1912, so it's not too egregious an error.

* In ''Series/MadMen'', the sign on the original Sterling Cooper building is Gill Sans, which was not in popular use in the United States until the 1970s (of course, it's not ''impossible'', since Gill Sans was designed in 1938). There are other future fonts, mainly in shots of print ads: Fenice (1980), Balmoral (1978), ITC Kabel (1975), Bookman Old Style (1989), Zapfino (1998), and Gotham (2002) (although this one is tricky, since Gotham ''intentionally'' mimics older the styles of public-building lettering in New York from the 30s-60s). Of course, there were similar fonts--sometimes quite similar--to all of these in existence in the 1960s; presumably, this was a measure to save time and money.

Edit:If that were actually true why is "Mein Kampf" titled in such?