Last month Piccadilly: The Circus at the Heart of London by Midge Gillies was published in paperback, this is one of London’s most famous junctions, but how much do you know of this iconic meeting spot? As before the correct answer will turn green when it’s clicked upon and expanded to give more information. The incorrect answers will turn red giving the correct explanation.
1. For what company was the first illuminated advertisement?
Bovril
WRONG In 1904, the first electric sign spelt out Mellin’s Food in 6ft-high letters above Mellin’s Pharmacy at 43 Regent Street. Mellin’s Food was a popular infant food supplement. The advert read: ‘Mellin’s Food for Infants and Invalids: The only perfect substitute for Mother’s Milk’. By 1908 saw the installation of the first electric illuminated advertising billboards on the frontage of the Monico tea rooms. Illuminated advertisements for Perrier water and Bovril were quick to follow.
Mellin’s baby food
CORRECT In 1904, the first electric sign spelt out Mellin’s Food in 6ft-high letters above Mellin’s Pharmacy at 43 Regent Street. Mellin’s Food was a popular infant food supplement. The advert read: ‘Mellin’s Food for Infants and Invalids: The only perfect substitute for Mother’s Milk’. By 1908 saw the installation of the first electric illuminated advertising billboards on the frontage of the Monico tea rooms. Illuminated advertisements for Perrier water and Bovril were quick to follow.
Monico tea rooms
WRONG In 1904, the first electric sign spelt out Mellin’s Food in 6ft-high letters above Mellin’s Pharmacy at 43 Regent Street. Mellin’s Food was a popular infant food supplement. The advert read: ‘Mellin’s Food for Infants and Invalids: The only perfect substitute for Mother’s Milk’. By 1908 saw the installation of the first electric illuminated advertising billboards on the frontage of the Monico tea rooms. Illuminated advertisements for Perrier water and Bovril were quick to follow.
2. What art installation did Amelia Kosminsky create upon Eros in June for Art After Dark’s summer programme?
LGBTQ+ Rainbow
WRONG Amelia Kosminsky launched Sparks of Nature for Art After Dark’s summer programme, with the physical floral installation brought to life by the florist Phillip Corps Flowers.
Flower Power
CORRECT Amelia Kosminsky launched Sparks of Nature for Art After Dark’s summer programme, with the physical floral installation brought to life by the florist Phillip Corps Flowers.
National Portrait Gallery reopening
WRONG Amelia Kosminsky launched Sparks of Nature for Art After Dark’s summer programme, with the physical floral installation brought to life by the florist Phillip Corps Flowers.
3. What is the official name of the centrepiece of Piccadilly Circus?
The Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain
CORRECT The official name of the centrepiece is the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain, named after the great Victorian philanthropist Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury. It was financed by public subscription, which is a testament to his charitable work.
Love’s true arrow
WRONG The official name of the centrepiece is the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain, named after the great Victorian philanthropist Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury. It was financed by public subscription, which is a testament to his charitable work.
Eros takes flight
WRONG The official name of the centrepiece is the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain, named after the great Victorian philanthropist Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury. It was financed by public subscription, which is a testament to his charitable work.
4. Who is depicted on the top of the statue?
Anteros
CORRECT The statue depicts Anteros the rather boring brother of Eros whose concern was unselfish and reflective charity and had nothing to do with love. Anteros’s bow is directed not at his lover’s heart but towards the public’s social conscience. Some say it was originally pointed towards Shaftesbury in Dorset, and as a play on words the arrow or ‘shaft’ pointed down and would be ‘buried’ in the ground.
Eros
WRONG The statue depicts Anteros the rather boring brother of Eros whose concern was unselfish and reflective charity and had nothing to do with love. Anteros’s bow is directed not at his lover’s heart but towards the public’s social conscience. Some say it was originally pointed towards Shaftesbury in Dorset, and as a play on words the arrow or ‘shaft’ pointed down and would be ‘buried’ in the ground.
Artemis
WRONG The statue depicts Anteros the rather boring brother of Eros whose concern was unselfish and reflective charity and had nothing to do with love. Anteros’s bow is directed not at his lover’s heart but towards the public’s social conscience. Some say it was originally pointed towards Shaftesbury in Dorset, and as a play on words the arrow or ‘shaft’ pointed down and would be ‘buried’ in the ground.
5. What is said you can experience if you stand long enough at Piccadilly Circus?
See every person in the world
CORRECT It has been said that if you stand in Piccadilly Circus long enough, everyone in the world will pass by, as it is a popular gathering place for tourists and locals alike and was rather romantically considered the heart of the British Empire.
The Circus Ghost
WRONG It has been said that if you stand in Piccadilly Circus long enough, everyone in the world will pass by, as it is a popular gathering place for tourists and locals alike and was rather romantically considered the heart of the British Empire.
Colour blindness from the sign lights
WRONG It has been said that if you stand in Piccadilly Circus long enough, everyone in the world will pass by, as it is a popular gathering place for tourists and locals alike and was rather romantically considered the heart of the British Empire.
6. What connection has Piccadilly Circus with D-Day?
Eisenhower’s code name
WRONG The phrase Piccadilly Circus is commonly used to refer to a place or situation which is extremely busy with people, because of this connection, during World War II, ‘Piccadilly Circus’ was the code name given to the Allies’ D-Day invasion fleet’s assembly location in the English Channel.
An assembly location
CORRECT The phrase Piccadilly Circus is commonly used to refer to a place or situation which is extremely busy with people, because of this connection, during World War II, ‘Piccadilly Circus’ was the code name given to the Allies’ D-Day invasion fleet’s assembly location in the English Channel.
Soldiers promised to meet there after hostilities were over
WRONG The phrase Piccadilly Circus is commonly used to refer to a place or situation which is extremely busy with people, because of this connection, during World War II, ‘Piccadilly Circus’ was the code name given to the Allies’ D-Day invasion fleet’s assembly location in the English Channel.
7. How many screens are used to display the advertisements?
6
WRONG Claimed to be the most technically advanced screen in the world in January 2017 all six visual displays were ripped down and replaced with a single ‘state of the art’ 783 square metre 4K screen.
12
WRONG Claimed to be the most technically advanced screen in the world in January 2017 all six visual displays were ripped down and replaced with a single ‘state of the art’ 783 square metre 4K screen.
1
CORRECT Claimed to be the most technically advanced screen in the world in January 2017 all six visual displays were ripped down and replaced with a single ‘state of the art’ 783 square metre 4K screen.
8. What metal was used for the statue?
Tin
WRONG It was created in aluminium, a material that was very uncommon for use in this kind of thing back in 1892 when the statue was built. It’s only the representation of Anteros that is made of aluminium. The base is made of bronze which would have been a very traditional material for sculpture of its time.
Zinc
WRONG It was created in aluminium, a material that was very uncommon for use in this kind of thing back in 1892 when the statue was built. It’s only the representation of Anteros that is made of aluminium. The base is made of bronze which would have been a very traditional material for sculpture of its time.
Aluminium
CORRECT It was created in aluminium, a material that was very uncommon for use in this kind of thing back in 1892 when the statue was built. It’s only the representation of Anteros that is made of aluminium. The base is made of bronze which would have been a very traditional material for sculpture of its time.
9. During Christmas 2013 what transformation happened to the statue?
A giant snow globe
CORRECT A giant plastic bubble was put over the top of the statue and the space inside was filled with fans and fake snow turning it into a giant snow globe.
The fountain’s water was changed to white
WRONG A giant plastic bubble was put over the top of the statue and the space inside was filled with fans and fake snow turning it into a giant snow globe.
It became a Christmas tree
WRONG A giant plastic bubble was put over the top of the statue and the space inside was filled with fans and fake snow turning it into a giant snow globe.
10. Why does the statue not have an arrow?
As a pun, the missing shaft has been said to be buried in Shaftesbury Avenue
WRONG In 1893, the Shaftesbury Memorial Committee said firmly that ‘The fountain itself is purely symbolical, and is illustrative of Christian charity’, making no mention of the winged figure, whose downward pointing bow British History points out, ‘has been, and still is, widely regarded as forming a rebus upon the name of Shaftesbury’.
The statue is a symbol of Christian kindness, not an instrument of attack
CORRECT In 1893, the Shaftesbury Memorial Committee said firmly that ‘The fountain itself is purely symbolical, and is illustrative of Christian charity’, making no mention of the winged figure, whose downward pointing bow British History points out, ‘has been, and still is, widely regarded as forming a rebus upon the name of Shaftesbury’.
The arrow is flying to the Earl of Shaftesbury’s family home in Wimborne St Giles
WRONG In 1893, the Shaftesbury Memorial Committee said firmly that ‘The fountain itself is purely symbolical, and is illustrative of Christian charity’, making no mention of the winged figure, whose downward pointing bow British History points out, ‘has been, and still is, widely regarded as forming a rebus upon the name of Shaftesbury’.
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