, 1872-12-18
UNLETTERED SIGNS.

ture, @ the three golden balla-thoso
glittering insignia OF the House OF Lombardy
and Of want, Under the shadow of which SO
many broken hearts have passed, even in those
old days OF which We speak.
After while it became customary to display
samples of the wares themselves, but these ba-
came, in a short time battered and worn, and
we're portrayed in wood, and gaily carved aud
gilded. In those trades where it WAS possible,
it was customary in most instances to make the
sign show the nature Of the business; but
where this could not be done, lions, dragons and
q hundred other forms Of every hue in the
color-yender's schedule we're substituted
During the reigns Of Charles the Second aud
James, these unlette1ed signs became very nu-
merous. Commerce had made wonderful strldes
in the preceding fifty or sixty years butas yet
even the nobility we're comparatively uned1cat-
ed; and men who held Offices Of the highest
trust, as for instance Churchill, to whom James
entrusted most delicate mission to the King OF
France, were totally unable to read or write.
The streets Of London we're en1iyened by in
Vulnerable green bears, blue bulls, saracen's
heads and golden dolphins. There we're gigan-
ito axes, arrows, and hammers, and parti-col-
ored and hinged serpents that Vibrated and rat
tied in the wind, their red, gaping mouths, fiery
buI or gilded, scaly dragon .cross
the way. Some OF these signs we're gotten up
with good deal OF artistic skill and at consd-
4AA-1e+*N%~@H 49,
much as fifty guineas-no small amount OF
money in these days Of small values.
OF course, he who possessed the most stirling
sign WAS in the least danger OF having ms place
of business forgotten, in that period OF sharp
eyes and 1itt1e learning, The custom must have
given rise to very peculiar system OF d1fectons*
The idea Of having ones letters sent to the
"Piebald Elephant, opposite the Green Leop-
arc" or package to the " blue !lger, TWO dooTs
above the Galloping Horse" and then to buy
bill Of dry goods st the ''Golden Dolphin, OF
your wine at the "Blue Devils, why, one
might as well have the - imjama" at once.
n modern times, unlettered signs, although
no longer the emblems Of every business, are
yet clung to tenaciously BY few traders,
though they are gradually going ont OF vogue:
In fact they have done so already, in great
many instances, the tobacconist being the only
one who yet clings to them unWaver1ngly, ana
in the New England States even he has almost
forswoTn his allegiance. Trades that thlrty or
even ten years ago we're never met with
without their peculiar emblem, now IN
most instances disdain them altogether:
How sudden the umbrella makers
string Of pa1ti-colored parasols are seen! Sol
ellis ittle midahipman is no longer duplicated
in the carver's hands, although in New Orleans
there is bright new Admiral that would g. Ta5p
lantic seaports now and then one Is met with IN
front Of the ahop Of some old-estabGshed instru-
ment maker. There is one on State street, in
Boston, and there are several in New York, but
they aI6 I'll HoIo VI Aoos AAut44aSeA~ - AAA1ts-
delphia, where signs have decayed, there Is one,
OF which nothing remains but the legs, standing
up sturdily from their pedestal as II to thro"
down the gauntlet to time and innovation.
The tobacconista, however, have almost made
up, by the multiplicity OF the forms with which
their shop-fronts, for their absence in other
trades. Fifteen years ago the tradltlonal II
dien With now and then = stray Highlander, or
"Punch," comprised all TIE 7arlet1es. Hut }7s nGM
their name is legion. One can hardly walk
down the main street Of any city IN the country
without being stared in the face BY q score Of
wooden or sheet-lron KING Wnhams, Capsaan
Jinkges, Dom Pedros, Uncle Sans, Indian
maidens, girls OF the period, and other strange
figures.
Some OF these signs are really excellent II
their way. One Of the best Of them used to
be in the lower part OF the BoWry. 1t was q
life-size figure Of an Indian, slt5lng IN an Glo-
his calumet. The artist, for he was an artist,
| had copied every minute detail with the ut1nost
fidelity, and the easy attitude and calm, dignl-
fed features would have done honor even 20
PhladelPhia q colossal head OF more modern
whiskey- drinking "Io" that IS cap!taly DONE
Among the less artistic but Sill str1Hlng iorms
are "Girl OF the Penod On On q veloclReoe, E ,a ana
manufacturers also turn out wen-Prop9rtloned
Indian chief, and 3 little Indian g1rl with whom
one would almost fall IN love- THESE, as are
the bulk Of the new statues now placed On the
G[f48L9 llau6 u Es&6k IL ts40 u
Tery well coloted.
There is one individual in Baltimore who ap
pears to have q statue mania, he having no less
than seven in and about his shop they are all
vous Of ghosts
As We go farther South and West, We find the
unlettered sign more commonly used for all
purposes there arc more gigantic guns, big
horseshoes, and enormous glded scissors. One
Of the best Of these miscellaneous aigns is on
King street, in Charleston, s. G., IN front OF q
! hardware store. A post, some thirty feet high
| and shaped Like an axe he1ye, is planted
near the curb-stone, and at the top il gigantic
red-jecket axe, on which is painted the
name Of the shopkeeper; In Pittsburgh there Is
big gllded chisel that would DO to put IN aome
Brobdignasian tool-chest With thus pleasant ~
! tle- weapon, and hare also seen, somewhere
| else, saw that would do to accompany them.
OF course, there are very lew remaining N
stances where tho unletsesed sign Is useo 70 oes-