Strike's Stores, Thames Ditton, update

Regular readers of this blog may remember the Strike's Stores ghost sign in Thames Ditton. I just saw a postcard from c. 1912 on which the painted sign is clearly visible. I have amended the original post and included a link to the aforementioned postcard.

Strike's Stores, Thames Ditton

At first sight the bright background to this ghost sign seems regular but a closer look shows that it was actually too narrow for "Whitbread's" and had to be extended towards the left and the right, in unequal measure, at that level: the first half of the "W" and the "S" are out of frame. Was this wanted to make the name of the brewer stand out or was that bad planning by the sign writer?

The sign for Strike's Stores can be seen on this postcard printed c. 1912 and posted on the excellent blog Postcards Then and Now. Back then the sign looked rather recent.

Strike's
Stores
Agents For
Whitbread's
Bottled
Beers

Matured In Bottle

The Natural Method

Location: High Street, Thames Ditton, Surrey / Picture taken on: 25/08/2009