Brymay, Fulham

This is undoubtedly one of the most colourful ghost signs for Brymay matches I have come across.

After importing Swedish matches for eighteen years, Bryant & May opened their first factory in 1861 in Bow. The site became famous in July 1888, when 1,400 women and teenage girls working there went on strike following the unfair dismissal of one them. If that was the spark that ignited the struggle, the protest was about poor working conditions, and in particular long hours with very few short breaks, heavy fines often handed to workers by foremen, and poor health resulting from exposure to white phosphorus. The matchgirls received the support of many socialists, including women's rights activist Annie Besant, who addressed the crowds on several occasions. Ultimately after more than two weeks, the management of the company agreed to meet most of the demands of the strikers.
Production of matches continued in Bow until it was transferred to Liverpool in 1979.

For British Home
Brymay

Although it is no longer visible, we can assume the first part of Brymay's slogan, "British Matches", was originally painted above "For British Homes."

Location: Lillie Road / Picture taken in May 2008

Hodgin's depository, Fulham

To begin the fourth year of this blog, here is a ghost sign I discovered by pure chance last week while walking though the streets of Fulham.

I was passing along North End Road when I saw what, from far away, looked like some very faint text on a wall at the end of one of the perpendicular streets. Unfortunately there was nothing but instead of tracing my steps back I strolled through the little streets, turning left then right, and so on until I bumped into this building...

... and on the side was a large ghost sign!

Hodgin's
Depository
For Storing
Furniture
Luggage
Motorcars
&
At Lowest Prices
Carpet Dealer.
Estimates Free.
Phone 1710 KEN.

Given the size of the building, I wonder how many motorcars could have been stored there?

"Hodgin's Depository" doesn't seem to have been painted at the same time as the rest of this ghost sign.

I also doubt the storage of different kinds of goods and the sale of carpets went hand in hand. Thus we may well have two ghost signs here rather than just one. Differences in style seem to support this.

Location: Chesson Road / Pictures taken in July 2012

Boots, Fulham

Given its style, this ghost sign certainly advertised footwear rather than Boots the chemist. This may be confirmed the day the wooden sign goes: the very end of a word can be seen at the same level as "Pretty."

Boots
Location: Dawes Road / Picture taken on: 17/04/2008

A Million Londoners, Tokyngton

Even though the lower part of this ghost sign has be painted over, it is still possible to recognise an advert for the London Co-operative Society (LCS). It is very different from the one in Walthamstow, with a strong emphasis on the number of people who owned and controlled it. The LCS brought together several co-operative societies. In 1921, one year after its formation, it had nearly 100,000 members. By 1928, following the absorbtion of several societies, its membership had grown to 250,000. It continued to increase throughout the 1930s, reaching 530,000 in 1934, 650,000 in 1937, and 750,000 in 1939. The war slowed down the movement slightly but in 1944 the LCS could claim to have 832,670 members. The million benchmark was reached in the early 1950s. By then the LCS operated more than 550 establishments offering a wide range of products and services across Greater London. The LCS was the largest cooperative in the world and continued to thrive throughout the 1950s and early 1960s. By the mid-1960s it had 1.3 million members but the golden era of the cooperative movement was reaching its end. Membership stagnated throught the second half of the 1960s and between 1969 and 1970 the LCS lost 150,000 members as people turned towards the new supermarket chains. If the LCS had in 1970 a turnover of £90 million, in 1978 it lost £1.8 million. As a result of these financial difficulties and the more challenging environment, the LCS was amalgamated in 1981 with the Co-operative Retail Society.

This sign must have been painted in or shortly after 1950 or 1951: having one million members was undoubtedly something worth proclaiming!

For more information on the history of the LCS, check the website of the Bishopsgate Institute.

A Million
Londoners
Own & Control
The
London
[Co-operative
Society]
Location: Harrow Road / Picture taken on: 17/08/2009

This ghost sign for the London Co-operative Society gives me the opportunity to post two pictures of the LCS logo. The wreath with the co-operative's acronym was found on the green tiled façades of its food stores, under the display window. Unfortunately these two examples were painted over by the new owners of these shops but they are slowly reappearing.


Locations: Fulham Road, Fulham (left) and Richmond Road, St Margarets (right) / Pictures taken on: 15/08/2008 (left) and 21/05/2008 (right)

Redfern's rubber heels, Fulham

After posting an advert for Redfern's rubber mats and a bit about the company's history five months ago, here is a sign promoting their rubber heels. Contrary to most signs for Redfern still visible in London, which were painted on large blind walls, this well-preserved example stands above the entrance and display windows of what was certainly a shoe shop.

Redfern's Rubber Heels Save Money

Cheapest & Best In Fulham For Leather

Redfern's Rubber Heels Make Walking A Pleasure

Location: Munster Road / Picture taken on: 17/04/2008

Walpamur paint, Fulham

With spring comes the pressure to redecorate parts of our flat. Time to get the brushes out and to paint that stairwell and the corridor upstairs, I can almost hear! I can sense the journey to Homebase approaching...

Who could have come up with a name like Walpamur I thought when I first saw the sign below? After doing plenty of research (for about five minutes), it appears the name is, with a slight twist in the end, the abbreviation of the Wall Paper Manufacturers Ltd.
Based in Darwen near Blackburn, Lancs, the company was formed in 1899 to merge the interests of 31 wallpaper manufacturers. The group, which at the time controlled around 98% of the British wallpaper market went on to acquire several independent wallpaper manufacturers and either bought or set up a large number of retailing businesses. By August 1906 WPM diversified into the manufacture and distribution of paint with 'Hollins Distemper', a water paint named after the Hollins Paper Mill in Darwen where the laboratory had been set up and production first took place. Originally paint was brought by horse-drawn wagons to the local train station twice a day. However growing demand led WPM to improve its distribution network. By 1910, the company had set up several depots across the country to speed up deliveries, while six travelling salesmen promoted its water and by then brand-new oil based paints. In 1915 WPM set up Walpamur Co. Ltd to handle the manufacture and retailing of paint. In 1929, when Arthur Sanderson & Sons, of Perivale near London, was fully acquired by the WPM group, Walpamur took charge of the paint side of the business. Four years later, in 1933, the Walpamur Company (Ireland) was founded in Dublin. This was the step in the international expansion of the company. Over the years subsidiaries were set up in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and several African countries. Meanwhile in Britain, Walpamur acquired in 1934 a large number of wholesale paint and wallpaper distributing companies.
In the early 1960s, the WPM group came under investigation by the Competition Commission. Indeed, in spite of growing competition, WPM still controlled 79% of the wallpaper market and its pricing policy raised some questions. The paint side of the business was also of concern. By 1964, Walpamur had 89 depots, 42 of which were owned by subsidiaries, and 6 of which were jointly operated with Smith & Walton. Originally a manufacturer of paint based in Haltwhistle, Nthumb, Smith & Walton had moved into the wallpaper business in 1955, becoming in the process one of the main competitors of WPM, but in 1961 it was acquired by the latter. This meant taking control not only of the production lines of Smith & Walton but also of 23 depots and over 300 Brighter Homes Stores. Probably as a result of the investigation, WPM sold Walpamur in 1965 to Reed International.
Traditionally Walpamur concentrated on water-based paints, which bore its name, but after the Second World War it introduced new products such as Darwen, which offered a satin finish for kitchens and bathrooms, and Duradio, an enamel paint for exteriors. By the 1970s the company began producing emulsion paints. Feeling the name Walpamur was too closely associated with water paints, it was decided in 1975 to change it to Crown Decorative Products.
The company was acquired by Wiliams Holdings in 1987, and in 1988 the name was changed to Crown Berger. In 1993 Crown Berger was taken over by Nobel (from 1994 AkzoNobel) but when AkzoNobel acquired in 2008 Imperial Chemical Industries, the maker among others of Dulux paint, the European Commissioner for Competition feared the company would have a near monopoly in several countries, including the UK. As a result AkzoNobel decided to sell Crown Berger in a management buyout backed by private equity firm Endless LLP.

Walpamur Water Paint Duradio Enamel Paint Darwen Satin Finish

S. G. Purkiss & Co. Ltd Stock and Recommend Walpamur Quality Paints

Parts of an earlier sign can still be read:

	S. G. Purkiss P....ers Merchants
Stock & Recommend		...es
	...s Pa...
		For Beauty & Durability

The hand pointing downward belongs to that earlier sign, and if you look carefully under the hand, you may notice a small roundel. This is the signature mark of: Tolson Signs
68 Munster Road W6
REN [?] 2404
I would assume the most recent of the two signs was painted in the late 1950s or early 1960s as it is consistent with printed ads published around that time in magazines.

Location: Munster Road / Picture taken on: 31/03/2008

Kit Kat dining rooms, Fulham

In spite of the red coat of paint, if the angle is right, it is still possible to spot a painted name on the corner of this building.

Kit Kat
Dining
Room
Does it mean they only served Kit Kats? And does the name come from the chocolate-covered biscuit or from the Kit Kat club (but its members didn't meet anywhere near this place) ...

Location: Munster Road / Picture taken on: 17/04/2008