Monster Fonts emerged from the rise of industrialization in the nineteenth century.  Advertising became extraordinarily popular and was in need of new forms of type to communicate their messages.  Classical letters now became embellished and over the top, stretched in height, width and dimension. Even the serifs were now used not as finishing details but as their own ornate structures to stand out to the public.

There were new techniques in making these fonts come to life. In 1834, the emergence of the combined pantograph and router revolutionized wood-type manufacturing.  Lead, the go to source for casting metal type was too soft to hold such large sized shapes under the printing press.  The pantograph was now able to make the type accessible in maybe shapes and sizes, with different weights and proportions.  The alphabet was now open to interpretation, being able to be flexible letterforms.  The identity of the individual characters became less important, the actual relationships between letters in a typeface was the focus.