History

🎉 75 Today: Happy Birthday A.S. Handover! 🎉

Wishing all at A.S. Handover a happy 75th birthday, and giving thanks for their continued support.

Better Letters

• 4 min read
Profile view of a sign painter applying a turquoise colour to the body of letters that have been shadowed in red.
Mia Warner on the brush for A.S. Handover, established 1949.

On 12 September 1949, the brushmakers of distinction and signwriting suppliers to the Queen, A.S. Handover Ltd., was first registered in London. BLAG 06 includes the story of the firm over the last 75 years, but here I want to wish the current team a happy birthday, and to thank them—Handover have been huge supporters of my work over the last ten years, not least in sponsoring BLAG.

The history of A.S. Handover in BLAG 06 is also published here on their website, including some bonus content.
Black and white print advertisement with an illustration of a pointed brush and the following copy: Ticket and poster writers brushes in sable, ox hair or sable mixture — the finest brushes of their kind — confirmed by the many testimonials we are constantly receiving. Try us and see for yourself. Write today for our fully illustrated catalogue, to:— A.S. Handover Ltd. "The name that guarantees the brush", Angel Yard, Highgate High Street, London, N.6. Tel: Mountview 0665.
"The name that guarantees the brush": As true today as it was in 1960 when this advertisement appeared in the July 1960 issue of Display magazine.

Back to 2014

When I was first getting started with Better Letters, I had the good fortune to have A.S. Handover just down the road from me in Stoke Newington. In fact, its location practically next door to Type Tasting saved my skin on more than once during our first workshop—we kept running out of things, and so I kept running down the stairs and into the shop to restock!

Film produced by A.S. Handover to document the first ever Better Letters workshop.

We subsequently hosted a number of workshops in a small room inside Handover's Farleigh Place premises, which included classes with Mike Meyer and David Kynaston.

Photo of eight people posing outside a brick building with a protruding sign that says "Handover".
Mike Meyer with students from the March 2014 workshop hosted by A.S. Handover.

Handover were of course our supplier of choice for workshops more widely across Europe, and they contributed to our first printed resource in the form of Mike Meyer's folding alphabet sheet.

Printed matter with a cover that says "Mike Meyer, Hand Lettering Workshops, Alphabets" on the front and blocks of typeset text on the back with "Thank You" as the heading.
These folding sheets were printed with support from A.S. Handover in 2016. They included a special discount code for workshop participants, in addition to other resources and the alphabets inside. Photo: Gloria Soria.

London Calling

While we moved on from running the London classes at the shop, the relationship with Handover was far from over. 2017 marked the start of our next big collaboration—London Letterheads—and last year I reflected on the experience of pulling off this huge event.

In addition to being on the core London Letterheads team, A.S. Handover also ran the shop that in the public foyer in the Bargehouse at OXO Tower. Photos: Colin Allen.

Handover continue to support and attend Letterheads events around the world, most recently in Epsom, Surrey, for A Day at the Races.

Sign Painting

Although activity was paused for the busiest period of the 2018 meet, work was already underway on our book, Sign Painting: A Practical Guide to Tools, Materials, and Techniques (2021). In addition to the wonderful photography from Darius Zomorodian, Handover's knowledge of brushes and other sign painting tools and materials was invaluable in researching the book.

Paints, brushes, and other sign painting tools and materials arranged neatly on a surface and photographed from above.
One that got away; I was always gutted that this photo from Handover's Darius Zomorodian didn't make it into the final edit of Sign Painting.
20 different types of brushes lined up on a surface and photographed from above so that their handles and hairs are visible.
Most of the brushes in this photo from the Sign Painting book are made and sold by A.S. Handover. Photo: Darius Zomorodian.

Backing BLAG

Which brings us to today, and the most recent chapter in a decade of working alongside the wonderful folks at A.S. Handover. When I came up with the crackpot idea of a printed magazine about the international sign painting scene, the team immediately jumped on board as sponsors, and their confidence in me and the BLAG project has been a massive boost over the last couple of years.

Close-up photo of the inside cover of a magazine in fluorescent yellow. Most of it is out of focus while visible in the foreground is the word "Sponsors" and then the A.S. Handover logo, website, and social media profile.
A.S. Handover among the sponsors listed in BLAG 05.

The Next Milestone

The Handover story is far from over, and the company's majority shareholder is now an employee-owned trust. This puts it in very safe hands as it heads towards its centenary but, for now, please join me in wishing the entire team a very happy 75th birthday 🎉

Group of four people smiling for a selfit outside a white-walled building with various plants growing on/beside it.
Team Handover: Rachel, Michael, Charlotte, and Craig.

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