looks like from the 1940s...

Hey, not so much font identification, but if the bottom one is a sans serif, how would you calsify the top one?

know- brush script

huge - engravers

do - copperplate

type - Aachen

this is one of those avant garde alternatives

Ahhh why can't I clearly express my thoughts today
I meant the workflow... let's say I'm setting a header in requiem and I want to see all available ligatures for the combinations of letters in my copy. What do I do? Typing with the 'ligature' font produces random ligatures....

no you misunderstood, I know how to use ligatures but how do I use these fonts where the entire font is just ligatures. Several families have that, like this http://www.typography.com/fonts/font_styles.php?productLineID=100020

Some font families include fonts that consist of just ligatures, example below
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5312/7440981382_48c2b497ce_z.jpg

What's the right way to use them?

similar
http://www.houseind.com/fonts/eames/viewfonts

I'd say its a redrawn bauhaus