SHARD, THE (n.) Transparent phallic edifice erected near bridge’s vicinity. Upon proffering a fee one can be conveyed by ascending carriage to the summit to observe London’s panorama
Dr. Johnson’s London Dictionary for publick consumption in the twenty-first century avail yourself on Twitter @JohnsonsLondon
Dotted around our cities are ephemeral signs, a reminder of advertising before commercial broadcasting with its blanket coverage urging one to buy.
This beautifully produced volume is a reminder of those early days when the most effective way of promoting your product was to have it painted on the side of a wall.
This work, the result of over 15 years’ research by Sam Roberts, who is the recognised authority on London’s Ghost Signs, accompanied by Roy Reed’s photos who has a lifetime’s experience photographing the urban landscape, gives us a fascinating reminder of our past way of life.
Nichè publisher, Išola Press, should be congratulated on allowing Eve Izaak to break traditional conventions of book design, its use of Moderat typeface, small folios and running headings, with expanded sub-heads, was a brave decision which was the perfect choice for this publication.
The book has numerous cross-references, clearly highlighted and key symbols giving the illustration’s their historical background. While confusing at first, once mastered, makes for a much clearer understanding of the book’s subject.
Sam was running a successful website and Twitter @GhostSigns filled with ghost sign sightings, and even gave tours of his well-researched subject. Using Kickstarter for seed finance coupled with Sam’s enthusiasm gives us a never bettered London book on the subject.
Edwardian London must have been a colourful time, with brightly painted adverts adorning so many walls, Sam Roberts explains in plenty of detail how this came about.
Many books containing 150 photos of London fall into the trap of becoming ‘coffee table’ publications, beautiful to peruse, but rarely of any use to the London aficionado having too little detail.
Ghost Signs has great illustrations: Peterkin custard, Gillette razors, Hovis bread, but the information contained within its covers will have you reaching up to your bookshelf time and again as a source of reference.
Thank you Išola Press for the opportunity to review Ghost Signs.
This is not a sponsored post. The publication reviewed has been kindly donated by the author or publisher. CabbieBlog has not received any payment for writing this review and the opinions stated above are solely his own. All links here conform with guidelines set out in Write a Post.
London has now become almost like a gigantic frog! With its long tongue it draws curious insects from all over the world inside itself!
Mehmut Murat Ildan (b.1965), William Shakespeare
On 9 January 1986 Michael Heseltine quit as Defence Secretary in a row with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher he flounced out of a meeting at Number 10 saying his views on the future of the Westland Helicopter Company were being ignored. The final straw came when Mrs Thatcher insisted all Heseltine’s public comments on Westland would have to be vetted by officials before release.
On 9 January 1864 the first ‘official’ exhibition football game under FA Rules was at Battersea Park, players were selected by the FA
’Monkey Suckers’ perfected the art of drilling into barrels stored at East End docks then using tube to suck out a bottle, or two, of rum
The lions heads along Victoria and Albert Embankments are a Victorian flood warning system – hence ‘When the lions drink, London will sink’
Both Elizabeth I and Henry VIII were born at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, Sir Walter Raleigh was said to have thrown his cloak over a puddle here to prevent Queen Elizabeth getting her feet wet
During the war, special supply trains ran, providing seven tonnes of food and 2,400 gallons of tea and cocoa every night to people staying in the Tube
On 9 January 1951 the first film to receive an X certificate from the British Board of Censors opened in London called Life Begins Tomorrow
If you lunch or dine at the Garrick Club, at the end of the meal the waiter brings in a silver box filled with charcoal biscuits. Why?
Fulham FC are the oldest professional football club in London having been derived from St Andrew’s Church team
On the 9 January 1863 the world’s first underground train travelled its 3.5 mile maiden journey from Paddington to Farringdon
Founded in London by English royal charter in 1670, the Hudson’s Bay Company is the world’s oldest chartered company
On 9 January 1768 the first modern circus was staged in London by Philip Astley following the success of his invention of the circus ring
Trivial Matter: London in 140 characters is taken from the daily Twitter feed @cabbieblog.
A guide to the symbols used here and source material can be found on the Trivial Matter page.
For those new to CabbieBlog or readers who are slightly forgetful, on Saturdays I’m republishing posts, many going back over a decade. Some will still be very relevant while others have become dated over time. Just think of this post as your weekend paper supplement.
“Sorry Squire, I’m not going South of The River”.
I can now say that with impunity after a recent judgment by magistrates in Bolton. Last week they cleared taxi firm boss Mustak Bhuta, accused of discrimination against a blind woman, Toni Forest. The court heard that Miss Forest accompanied by her guide dog was told that the cab firm was not taking her because of hairs from her dog.
But the court accepted the taxi bosses’ version that two of his drivers on duty had problems in the past, one of which was the dog being unhygienic in licking the gear stick. The remaining available driver was scared of dogs.
So now I have a whole plethora of excuses for refusal; you’ll drop hairs, licking my gear stick (is that a euphuism?), and a phobia of South London.
“You would lose your head if was not screwed on”, so I was told when young. The same could be said about cabbies’ passengers. A recent survey by Credant Technologies has found that over the last six months, 55,843 mobile phones and 6,193 other devices including laptops were forgotten by London black cab passengers. Thankfully, about 80 per cent of surveyed taxi drivers claimed that owners were reunited with their missing item once found, but having your hand-held device in someone else’s hands still poses a huge security threat for the owner. These devices are usually not owned by the people using them; either they are supplied on a contract or owned by their employer, so maybe that’s their excuse for not being so careful.
The same can’t be said for the high profile security breaches by losing data devices left in public areas, to be conveniently reported by the media. Am I being just a touch cynical when I think some of these lapses are helping to destroy the Government’s reassurance that they are safe with our personal data for ID cards?
Apart from the mountain of iPods, drivers have also found a sawn-off shotgun, 12 dead pheasants, two dogs, toilet seats, a casket of funeral ashes and £2,700 in cash in the back of their cabs. If all these were found on the same cab run, I wouldn’t be going south of the River again.
Having shut Grosvenor Square to vehicular traffic for the best part of four months, while installing the most elaborate anti-terrorist devices this side of Iraq, the United States Embassy has now announced it’s moving to Wandsworth.
Did we pay for these elaborate rising bollards, traffic lights, anti-car bomb devices, and if so will we get any compensation?
But at least the local residents won’t mourn the passing of the Americans; they cannot get anti-terrorist insurance cover for their valuable art collections.
But it won’t look so romantic for the great unwashed to demonstrate in Wandsworth, home of the Arndale Shopping Centre.
All together now:
What Do We Want? America Out!
When Do We Want It? Now
CabbieBlog 