Tower was a slab serif

Slab serif

In typography, a slab serif typeface is a type of serif typeface characterized by thick, block-like serifs. Serif terminals may be either blunt and angular , or rounded . Slab serif typefaces generally have no bracket...

 typeface

Typeface

In typography, a typeface is the artistic representation or interpretation of characters; it is the way the type looks. Each type is designed and there are thousands of different typefaces in existence, with new ones being developed constantly....

 designed by Morris Fuller Benton

Morris Fuller Benton

Morris Fuller Benton was an influential American typeface designer who headed the design department of the American Type Founders , for which he was the chief type designer from 1900 to 1937...

 for American Type Founders

American Type Founders

American Type Founders was a business trust created in 1892 by the merger of 23 type foundries, representing about 85% of all type manufactured in the United States...

, and based upon his earlier design for Stymie, but with straight sides to the round letters emphasizing the vertical appearance. Tower Italic was designed but not cast. In 1936, Tower Bold was started by the same designer, but was instead made into Stymie Bold Condensed.

Digital Type

Tower was digitized as Constructa by Elizabeth Cory Holzman for Font Bureau

Font Bureau

The Font Bureau, Inc. or Font Bureau is a digital type foundry based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The foundry is one of the leading designers of typefaces, specializing in type designs for magazine and newspaper publishers....

. Holzman's revival includes a light weight called Constructa Thin and an extra bold called Constructa Black.