Furniture depositories, Kentish Town

House furnisher Alfred Marsh & Co was established in 1857. Alfred Marsh's original furniture making business was based at 9 Warden Road but by 1891 he had moved to 116 Kentish Town Road. Within a couple of years he had tripled his surface by taking over 114 and 118 Kentish Town Road.

A. Marsh & Co became well-established during during the first decades of the 20th century and its patrons included the Crown agents for the colonies. The company offered a wide range of new and second-hand furniture.

...
...
Furniture
Depositories
As
Advertised

Advertisements published in the press kept the public informed about some of second-hand pieces available. In 1930 those included, among others, a walnut bedroom suite, two weathered oak bedroom suites, chesterfields in silk cover, as well as drawing and dining rooms in lacquer or walnut.

A. Marsh & Co seems to have disappeared during the economic crisis of the 1930s.

Largest Stock
Of New & Second-hand
Furniture
In London

We
Invite
Inspection

Location: Royal College Street / Pictures taken in November 2012 and July 2013

R. F. Stevens Ltd, Kentish Town

This ghost sign was certainly painted in 1951, the year organ builder R. F. Stevens Ltd moved to Leighton Place. The company was much older though, having been founded by Richard F. Stevens in 1853. Orginally it was based near Euston Square, first at 180 Drummond Street, then from 1887 at 180 Drummond Street, and finally from 1896 at 42b Hampstead Road. In the last decade of the 19th century R. F. Stevens also had a showroom at 343 Euston Road nearby. In 1906 it moved north to Kentish Town, settling first at 82a Leighton Road. In 1929 it moved to Royal Mail Yard, Kelly Street. Finally two decades later, in 1951, the company moved to what would be its last address, 9-11 Leighton Place.

For more than a century R. F. Stevens manufactured and restored both harmoniums and reed (also known as American) organs. The company also made reed pans and bellows for amateurs or other builders. While many organ manufacturers were rather small (there were over 200 reed organ builders in London alone in the late 19th and early 20th centuries), R. F. Stevens was one of the largest companies in its field, with up to 50 employees. It also offered more portable organ styles than any other company, not only in Britain but certainly in the world. However high numbers do not guarantee quality and R. F. Stevens's organs did not always compare well with those of its competitors, musically and above all aesthetically.

In spite of this R. F. Stevens's portable organs were particularly popular and the company counted amongst its customers the Salvation Army, the prison service and the armed forces. Indeed all Royal Navy vessels had to have an organ on board for playing hymns on Sunday and to entertain the troops from time to time. Portable organs would also have been used to celebrate mass near the front line whenever possible. Thanks to these contracts, R. F. Stevens did remarkably well during both World Wars.

R. F. Stevens managed to remain in business long after most organ manufacturers had closed down. However, due to a lack of demand, production ceased in 1966. The company continued to carry out restoration work but its financial situation deteriorated. In late 1978 it appointed a liquidator and in 1980 R. F. Stevens Ltd officially closed down.

R. F. Stevens Ltd
<--- Organ Works

Part of the ghost sign disappeared when the house next door was built but it is easy to reconstitute the missing part.

Location: Leighton Place / Pictures taken in July 2013

Fortess Road Post Office, Kentish Town

Most mosaics featured in this blog are laid on the doorstep of shops but it does not mean this is always the case as today's example illustrates.

The Fortess Road Post Office was built in the late 19th century, shortly after the Kentish Town end of this thoroughfare was widened.

While some post offices were identified by more or less modest painted signs (see two examples from Stoke Newington and Woodvale), the Fortess Road branch was given a lovely mosaic with elaborate lettering surrounded by floral patterns.

The same floral motif is found above three windows (for some reason the mosaic above the fourth one was lost).

Location: Fortess Road / Picttures taken in August 2008

Corsets, Kentish Town

With the preparation of my trip to Germany, I had almost missed the scientific revelation of the year: thanks to Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi, we now know for certain that earthquakes are caused by women! As the Iranian cleric declared: "Many women who do not dress modestly ... lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society, which increases earthquakes." Ah! Why didn't he speak earlier? Maybe I would have chosen to study seismology instead of politics. Actually one of the few times I felt the tremors of an earthquake was in a small town of Ecuador, where the only hotel was more often booked by the hour than for the night as the continuously squeaking beds clearly indicated. I was enjoying the view over the tropical forest and towards the Andes from the roof when it all started to shake (and hundreds of cockroaches appeared out of nowhere). All this because of these scantily clad women standing about by the hotel's door!

So where do corsets fit in Sedighi luminous theory? Supposed, in most cases, to enhance the curves by reducing the waist and exaggerating the bust and hips, these garments certainly ought to be banned.

...e...
Tw...
Corsets
Fortunately for Kentish town it looks like whoever paid for this sign has been out of business for a while, and therefore many natural disasters have been avoided.
Long live obscurantism!

Location: Kentish Town Road / Picture taken on: 14/08/2008

Update on the ABC Cinema sign

I passed today by Highgate Road and noticed that unfortunately the ABC cinema sign is now hidden behind a rather unappealing board displaying the venue's new name: HMV Forum.
On a more positive note, I came back with pictures of about twenty five more painted signs, including a very nice for Gillette. And it is not blue... Keep checking! In the meantime, have a nice weekend.

The Flickerless Cinema, New Cross, and ABC, Kentish Town

As today marks the second anniversary of the death of Swedish film director Ingmar Bergman, here are two cinema signs.

The
Flickerless

Film Cinema

Tower Rye Lane

Peckham

Location: New Cross Road / Picture taken on: 23/07/2009

Painted next to New Cross Gate station, this sign would have tried to lure commuters away from the local Gaumont New Cross and New Cross Empire to the Tower Cinema further away. Opened on 19th November 1914, the Tower was designed by the architect H. Courtenay Constantine and would have been fairly similar to The Angel in Islington and the Scala in King's Cross, with, as the name suggests, a tower rising 100 ft above Rye Lane (the tower of the Angel Cinema at 7 Islington Green still exists). The Tower closed on 1st December 1956, two years and a half after the Empire and three years and a half before the Gaumont. Nowadays a car park stands on the site of the Tower, and a car wash on that of the Empire. Part of the Gaumont building has survived and houses the Venue nightclub.

Forum
Follow This Sign
ABC
For Perfect
Entertainment

Location: Highgate Road / Picture taken on: 14/08/2008

The Forum, with its Art Deco facade is still a prominent building in Kentish Town. Opened in 1934, it became part of the Associated British Cinemas family one year later. Closed in 1970, it was turned like many cinemas that escaped demolition into a bingo hall. Nowadays it is in use as a concert hall and theatre.

I doubt that any of these cinemas would have screened any of Ingmar Bergman's films. More popular movies with namesake actress, and compatriot, Ingrid Bergman would have been more likely.

For more information about these four cinemas, you can visit the excellent website http://cinematreasures.org/