For those who missed it, here is a picture again, slightly larger this time. For more information about the Ingersoll Watch Company, go to the original post.
Goods Entrance
4 Kean Street
Location: Kean Street / Picture taken on: 08/10/2008
Showing posts with label Aldwych. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Aldwych. Show all posts
Friday, 16 September 2011
R.I.P. Ingersoll, Aldwych
Ever since I first noticed it, I always have a look at the Ingersoll ghost sign when I make my way from the City Lit to the bus stops on Aldwych. That was the case last Thursday, when I even wondered if the man smoking by the door had ever paid any attention to what was written just above him. Little did I know then that it would be the last time I would see it. Earlier today I noticed the ground and first floors have been completely repainted and in the process the ghost sign disappeared, certainly for good.
For those who missed it, here is a picture again, slightly larger this time. For more information about the Ingersoll Watch Company, go to the original post.
Ingersoll Watch Co Ltd
Goods Entrance
4 Kean Street
Location: Kean Street / Picture taken on: 08/10/2008
For those who missed it, here is a picture again, slightly larger this time. For more information about the Ingersoll Watch Company, go to the original post.
Goods Entrance
4 Kean Street
Location: Kean Street / Picture taken on: 08/10/2008
Thursday, 11 March 2010
Ingersoll Watch Co. Ltd., Aldwych
The information available of the web about the Ingersoll Watch Company in the UK is patchy to say the least.
In 1882 brothers Robert Hawley and Charles Henry Ingersoll launched a mail order business based in New York City. Ten years later they began supplying watches and in 1896 they introduced the 'Yankee', priced at US$1. In 1904 Ingersoll opened a store in London and set up a subsidiary company. Originally parts were imported from the US and assembled here, but it was decided later to manufacture watches for the UK market entirely at the new factory, near Angel tube station. In the US Ingersoll collapsed during the recession that followed the First World War but in the UK the company managed to survive. It had its headquarters at the appropriately-named Ingersoll House at 7-9 Kingsway, and it is at the back of that particular building that the sign below can be seen.
After the Second World War Ingersoll joined forces with Smiths Industries Ltd and, temporarily, Vickers Armstrong to form the Anglo-Celtic Watch Company Ltd, which opened a brand new factory in Ystradgynlais near Swansea. In 1969 Ingersoll pulled out of the venture.
Ingersoll Watch Co Ltd
Goods Entrance
4 Kean Street (Originally the same text was painted using a serif typeface)
Even though I had walked along Kean Street on countless occasions before 2008, I had failed to notice this sign. Then one day I had a last look at the back of Crown House next door, which was about to be demolished, and spotted it.
Location: Kean Street / Picture taken on: 08/10/2008
In 1882 brothers Robert Hawley and Charles Henry Ingersoll launched a mail order business based in New York City. Ten years later they began supplying watches and in 1896 they introduced the 'Yankee', priced at US$1. In 1904 Ingersoll opened a store in London and set up a subsidiary company. Originally parts were imported from the US and assembled here, but it was decided later to manufacture watches for the UK market entirely at the new factory, near Angel tube station. In the US Ingersoll collapsed during the recession that followed the First World War but in the UK the company managed to survive. It had its headquarters at the appropriately-named Ingersoll House at 7-9 Kingsway, and it is at the back of that particular building that the sign below can be seen.
After the Second World War Ingersoll joined forces with Smiths Industries Ltd and, temporarily, Vickers Armstrong to form the Anglo-Celtic Watch Company Ltd, which opened a brand new factory in Ystradgynlais near Swansea. In 1969 Ingersoll pulled out of the venture.
Goods Entrance
4 Kean Street
Even though I had walked along Kean Street on countless occasions before 2008, I had failed to notice this sign. Then one day I had a last look at the back of Crown House next door, which was about to be demolished, and spotted it.
Location: Kean Street / Picture taken on: 08/10/2008
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