Evening star., 1901-11-23
SHOPS AND THEIR SIGNS.
quaint Advertisements of London,
Ancient Tradesmen,

Ancient Tradesmen
From the London Globe
"hen signs and signboards are talked of
nowadays, 1t is only in connection with
INNS and public houses But in davs gone
by every shop, every place of business o7.
or entertainment had it's sign. and a mot
ley collection they We're The HANGING
Signs of every shape and kind must have
ADDED greatly to the picturesoueness Of
the business streets of old London Tho
Strand, Fleet street, ST Paurs Church.
Sard, Cheapside and the neishbornood of
the old exchange were the leading busi-
ness thoroughfares, and from the ouaip+
old houses, with their overhanying stories
there projected over the narrow footwav
scahtlIy marked off from the roadway NV
line OF posts, signs of every conceiv
able degree of incongruity.
Nohsrulty, indeed, seems TO have been
very seldom thought of. BookseIl ,rs some-
tiihes' elmer by chance or Intentionally.
distinguished their shops by more or
iesS appropriate signboard. This was spe-
Giaiy the case in the eighteenth century
Inc IuIly S Head is a famous eyamn1e
JACOB Ionson kept the Shakespeare's Head
IN the strand in 1712, and in 1859 there was
rnr,',l Uouhsel.tr shop behind lna exchange,
hnoWn SHOWN as the Ben Jonson's Head: but other
pipilophlles seem to have had little Thought
OF appropriateness in their signs. An edi.
llon OF Burton's Melancholy" which ap-
Pedied IN 1916, was sold ''at the sign of tte
Legg and Star''-an odd combinaffon--,6 ynr
against the Royal Exchange in Corn Hill :,
Ine booksellers of the EliZabethan tiroe
Sh Wno Gongregated chiefly in st. Paurs
SShurchyard. had an odd variety of signs
sponsors shepherds Calendar was oriei
nally sold at the 'Gylden Tunne.'' In Creed
lane, and the second edition appeared AT the
Snker, 1t IN Paternoster row. Another book
IN hn Lr~,
the cat and Parrots in CornhiH Sacred
names were used without thought Of irrev-
erence. eI. A tract of 1851 was issued at the
Sign of the Resurrection a liftIe abnvo
Holborn condute," and so late as 171s tia
Bible and Dove was the sign of q hooI,
sellers shop in Fleet street.
but anonymously odd signs We're not
confined to book shops. A seventeenth
century board represented Adam and E-o
SUING under tree, with the legend ..The
First Fruiterers." In 1877 garden seeds Of
an KINDS could be had in any quantity at
the Red Cross and Golden Lion ..in Soner
lane, near Cheapside, the ancient nIace for
garden seeds in London while clover and
the like could be bought at the Cross Kevs
ia IA Lofnbard street or at the Nake1 Boy.
IN the strand. The last-named sign seems
somewhat fantastic, but 1t appears 10 have
been favorite. There is a curious LIST of
tradesmen and their signs, nearly an in
Tonsru9us' ,'pds @ IN some verses printed in 1912
under the title of "Pasqun's Nightcap"
After mentioning a grocer at the Frvine
Pan, draper at the Bell and goldsmith
at the Rose, the writer continues:
And Master Miles the mercer at the Har-
row;
And Master 'Nicke the siIkman ,+ t,a
Plow: '--o
And Master Giles the salter at the snar-
row;
And Master Dieke the vintner at the Cow:
And Harry Haberdasher at the Horne:
ANA Oliver the dyer at the Thorne:
And Bernard, barber-surgeon at the Fid-
die; ~
And Moses, merchant tailor, at the Needle"
Occasionally a proprietor showed sense
; VI huinor IN the choice of Sign, as, for
instance, when Mrs. Salmon, in the time
OF Queen Anne, opened waxwork show in
ST Martins le Grand, and hung out as
ner sign the Qame and device of the Golden
Salmon; but Such choice was cxceptionaI
Humor Of this kind seems to have been
more common among the eighteenth CEN
tury shopkeepers in Boston, Mass. Mrs.
Earle, in one of her interesting and yalu-
able books on American social life in by-
gone Gays, mentions among the Boston
shops and signs in 1761 a goldsmith at the
Golden Ball, halter at the Hiatt and
Beaver and another at the Hiatt and Hell
mitt,' a draper at the strange combinatio
of the Stays and Wheatsheaf and a dealer
in knives at the Crown and Razor One
at least of the ancient signs survives Mrs
Earle says that "in front of nautical in
strument store on the corner If State and
Broad streets, Boston, still stands quaint
wooden figure of an ancient naval officer.
respondent in his blue coat, cooked hat.
short short breeehes, stockings and buckles.
holding In his hand quadrant The old
fellow has stood in this place continually.
taking observations Of the sun, for up.
ward of 100 years" This description re-
minds one of the similar figure that stood
outside the shop Of old Solomon Gills, the
instrument maker, as described in Dickens
Dombey and Son." The tall. wooden f,g-
ure of a Highlander taking snuff, which
may still be seen at the door Of one or two
tobacconists' shops, is another survival of
the same kind.
Many of the present-day public house and
Inn signs seem strangely grotesque and far
from easy of explanations; but strange
names and combinations were to be found
among the shop signboards of old. One or
two of those already mentioned, such as
the Cat and Parrots and the Naked Boy.
seem meaningless. Such incongruous alb
surdities did not pass unnoticcd by con-
temporary satirists. contributor to the
British Apollo of ITO thus commented ON
the absurd combinations to be seen on
London sgnboards:
I'm amazed at the signs
AS pass through the town:
To see the odd mixture
A Magpie and Crown,
The Whale and the Crow,
The Razor and Hen,
The Leg and Seven Stars
0~
Anything to Oblige.
From the Chicago Tribune.
Angry Tenant-"There Is something
wrong with the heating ARRANGEMENTS ~