2001 Boilerplate Text

2001: a Space Odyssey is pretty remarkable in that virtually every control panel and operating surface in the film is labelled with Letraset rub-down dry transfer lettering, neatly describing the operation of each device. And in keeping with Kubrick’s focus on realism, the text generally makes a lot of sense in terms of what each thing should do.

But one detail about the props and sets is that many of them have little blocks of text in very small type. The writing isn’t legible in the film, of course, but photos do exist of some of it.  And it turns out that much of the ultra-small text is actually just repeated generic boilerplate! I guess there was only so far that they could go...

I’ve examined high resolution photos of the back wall of the pod interior, and also of the two surviving spacesuit packs, and have been able to decipher most of the text. And amusingly the bits I’ve been able to figure out – it’s pretty blurry and also torn in places – have simply been a Letraset dry transfer instruction sheet, and a list of Letraset patents. I haven’t been able to read all the patent numbers, but many I’ve been able to cross-reference to actual historical patents.

Now, this isn’t particularly new information. Adam Savage mentioned this fact in one of his videos, commenting that a friend of his observed this text on the spacesuit pack at an exhibition or somewhere (possibly the Academy Museum in Los Angeles, which has the blue spacesuit pack on display). But I haven’t seen the writing actually published. So here it is, for those interested.

First, here are Letraset instructions.

CHARGING INSTRUCTIONS

EVERY INSTANT LETTERING SHEET IS INTERLEAVED WITH

A PROTECTIVE BACKING SHEET.  KEEP BETWEEN TYPE SHEET

AND ARTWORK TO PREVENT ACCIDENTAL TRANSFER OF LETTERS.

Second there is the patent text. The writing on the EVA pod back wall includes most of this except for a section partway through the first line. The orange chest pack decal was cut off during installation and the last part of each line is missing.

So in the text below, the parts in (brackets) are present in the pod and missing from the orange suit pack. The parts in [square brackets] were difficult to decipher. The text in {curly brackets} was missing from the EVA pod wall. Of course, none of the actual brackets were present on the applied text.

Omitting chunks of the text is something they seem to have done deliberately – there are a number of areas where the boilerplate blocks look like they’ve only been partially applied,  presumably to give some variation of appearance.

PATENTS: BRIT. 906,934; U.S. 2558803 {AND 3013917;} [FR. 1,293,384]; (BELG 605,371)

AND [619,000]; S.AFR. [R61/259]; RHOD. [366/61]; AND OTHER PATENTS (AND PENDING)

PATENTS IN ALL PRINCIPAL COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD.     PRINTED (IN ENGLAND)

The orange pack in question is seen in the film in considerable detail, particularly during Bowman’s first EVA when he darkens his visor using a magic polarizer of some kind.

The patent list is very strange, though. Especially the reference to “principal” countries of the world, yet places like Germany, Japan, even Canada and Australia aren’t listed. And yet Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and South Africa are. Odd!