James Rugg & Son, Earl's Court

In a small street, a few metres away from the crowds of Earls Court Road, is this large and well-preserved ghost sign.

The only mentions of the building and decorating firm of James Rugg & Son I could find date from 1933 and 1948, in The Electrical Journal and Charles White's The Royal Borough of Kensington respectively.

It is rather unusual for the name of a telephone exchange -Frobisher- to be written in full, the custom being to put the first three letters only. In this case, potential customers would have had to dial the code 370 for FRO. The Frobisher exchange served the Earls Court area (if the name of most exchanges made sense -in some way-, in this particular case it escapes me as I haven't found any connection between this part of Kensington and the English navigator and explorer Martin Frobisher).

Given its good state, this ghost sign was certainly painted after the war, possibly in the 1950s if not later. In any case no later than 1966 since that year the Director System for telephone numbers (three letters followed by four numbers) was replaced by All Figure Numbering.

Phone Frobisher - 1155
James Rugg & Son Ltd
Builders Decorators
Sanitary & Electrical
Engineers

Location: Kenway Road / Pictures taken in November 2012

Builders, Earl's Court

Thanks to a hoarding, part of the side wall of this building avoided the brown-ish paint. When it was was removed, part of a ghost sign emerged.
Enough can still be read to identify the different trades advertised there.

Carpenters
Ironmongers
Builders
Plumbers
The first, second and fourth lines were written twice, using a different typeface.


Location: Earls Court Road / Pictures taken in February 2008