manchette
A vertical heading within a newspaper article.
manchette: a side heading that breaks up column text
A manchette is a short heading set vertically within a newspaper column, typically positioned between paragraphs to divide sections of body text. Unlike the main headline at the top of an article, which spans multiple columns and announces the story, a manchette sits flush to one side of the column measure and serves a navigational function for the reader scanning down the page.
In hot-metal composition, the manchette was set in a smaller point size than the headline, often 14 to 18 points, and integrated into the column during makeup. The type would be locked in beside the text it introduced, creating a visual break without requiring the compositor to reset the entire line length. This made the manchette economical compared to setting a full-width subheading across multiple columns.
The manchette typically appears in the left or right margin of the column, depending on which side offered better optical balance given the surrounding ads and jump lines. In broadsheet layouts with narrow columns, a manchette three or four lines deep might interrupt a longer passage to signal a shift in topic within the same article. The white space around it prevented the heading from blending visually into the body matter below.
Offset printing and digital composition reduced the mechanical constraint that made manchettes useful. Modern pagination software can reflow text around any rectangular element, so the manchette became less common in general newsprint after the 1980s. Specialist publications and magazines still use internal headings in column layouts, but they are rarely called by the French term anymore.
The word itself derives from the French for sleeve or cuff, referring to the narrow band of typography sitting along the edge of the column. In English-language trades, the manchette is sometimes called a shoulder head or a strap when it runs horizontally across the top of a column. The usage has largely vanished from working vocabulary as pagination systems and responsive design eliminated the need to design around fixed column widths.