Zur Erholung, Meissen

For a city of 30,000 inhabitants, Meissen has an incredible amount of painted signs. Most of them can be found outside the city centre, on buildings that haven't been renovated - or demolished - yet. Below is such a sign. Originally a hotel or guest house, Zur Erholung has been empty for years and faces an uncertain future.

Zur Erholung
[roughly At the Rest House]
Erholung can mean 'rest', 'relaxation' or 'vacation'. It can also have the meaning of 'recovery' or 'convalescence'. All words that almost always imply a certain degree of tranquility. Given that this hotel stood next to a railway track, I doubt it was something its owners could guarantee. At least, from some of the windows there was a stunning view over the roofs of the city towards the cathedral and the Albrechtsburg.

Location: Plossenweg, Meissen, Sachsen / Picture take on: 20/12/2009

H. Roffe & Sons, Putney

For many small businesses around the country, a simple sign with the name and nature of the business in a basic typeface painted on the premises was enough to signal their presence to potential local customers. Not significant enough to feature in local history books, such a sign is often the only trace they have left.

H. Roffe & Sons
Contractors
Location: Lacy Road / Picture taken on: 18/08/2008

Invalid specialities, Heathfield

Originally I spotted this sign fifteen months ago while being driven to a Christmas party in Sunbury-on-Thames. As it was pitch black and we were busy chatting, I didn't pay too much attention to where exactly I had seen it, thinking it wouldn't be a problem to follow the same route on my own one day. Obviously I was wrong because I failed to take into account that our friend's sat nav had made us take a rather circuitous way. On several occasions I looked at Google and Bing satellite maps, trying to recognise some feaure along the way but to no avail. Then last week, just when I was about to give up, yet again, I saw on the edge of the screen a street name that rang a bell. The next day, dodging the sleet, hail and rain I walked there and, bingo, there was that elusive sign!
Fortunately the food served at the restaurant we went to for that Christmas party was much nicer that what is advertised on that sign. It would be interesting to see the sign immediately above, which is currently hidden by a billboard. That may cast some light on the unusual list of food below.

Soups, Potted Meats, Fish Pastes,
Beef Tea, Chicken Broth, Jellies,
Curries and Invalid Specialities
Click on the picture above for an enlaged version
I must admit I was slightly puzzled by "invalid specialities." I googled the expression and found it mostly in medical journals published between the 1880s and early 1920s, often in connection with exhibitions of products for doctors and hospitals. There was also a link to a page about the Nelson's Gelatine Factory, in Warwick, where one department in the extract of meat factory and soup kitchens was "devoted to extract of meat, beef tea and other invalid specialities."
Actually under the invalid specialities label, a few companies, of which Brand & Co. from Mayfair seems to have been the largest (although it was Messr. Callard & Co. who supplied the royal family), marketed manufactured food, such as essences of beef, mutton, and chicken, concentrated beef tea, soups and beef bouillon. These were recommended in general cases of exhaustion or weak digestion but were especially intended for the diabetic, the rheumatic, the gouty and other sufferers of long-term illnesses. Those wealthy enough could even get some from Harrods, "made with the finest available viands" as stated in their catalogue.
The presence of curries in the list above seems a bit odd as it doesn't strike me as an easily digestible food for someone with a weak stomach. A spicy one is good to unblock the nose though!

Location: Staines Road / Pictures taken on: 12/02/1010

The London Co-op, Walthamstow

The word of the week in the campaign for the next general election was "co-operative", with David Cameron renewing his pledge to give public sector workers the opportunity to form worker co-operatives to run services. One has to admit that it isn't very often that tories can be heard celebrating the co-operative model, and within a co-operative movement traditionally closer to Labour, many eyebrows were raised!
I am not going to look any further into this proposal and the reactions to it, but at least it gives me the opportunity to post a painted sign for the London Co-operative Society, although this was not a worker but a consumer co-operative. You can find here a brief history of that particular co-operative society, which was formed in 1920 and amalgated with the Co-operative Retail Society in 1981.

Owned & Controlled
By Its Members
Join the London Co-op
London Likes It!
I really like the combination of colours and different typefaces. A lovely example from the 1950s (the design looks very 1950s to me but I may be wrong).


If only I had such a handwriting...

Location: Frederic Street / Pictures taken on: 17/02/2010

Photographer, Leatherhead

At first sight there was nothing special about this building. It could have been nice enough, but the window had ruined it.


However as we turned round the corner, the light changed slightly and a ghost sign appeared on the hanging tiles painted in white.

Warren [to the left of the window]
Late Parrett
Photographer
A look on the web returned very little information about F. R. Parrett. Both Penn State University and the Bourne Hall Museum in Ewell have one picture each from his studio located in the High Street. They were taken at some point before 1900 and in the 1910s respectively. As for Warren, who seemed to have taken over from Parrett, nada.

Location: The Crescent, Leatherhead, Surrey / Picture taken on: 10/10/2009

A. Spicknell, fruiterer and greengrocer, Anerley

When I look for some information about the businesses or products advertised on painted signs, I sometimes make some strange discoveries. This morning I came across Mr Thomas William Beach, whose strawberries earnt him several prizes at Covent Garden, the Chiswick Horticultural Society and the 1851 Great Exhibition. But these were not any strawberries: they were real monster strawberries! It is said that some of his fruits of the British Queen variety weighed in at four onces (that is slightly more than 110 grams). The original small business of orchards and fruit fields planted along the Brent River in Heston expanded throughout the second half of the nineteenth century and by 1902, the year Beach died, TW Beach & Sons had become a major manufacturer of jams and bottled fruits. An article about Mr Beach and his fruits written by Janet McNamara was published in the ninth issue (2000) of the Brentford & Chiswick Local History Society Journal. It is also available online.
One amusing fact I learnt was that at the rear of his factory on Ealing Road, T. W. Beach opened a theatre. The intention was not only to offer some entertainment to his employees but also (mainly, I would imagine) to keep them away from the local pubs. Entrance cost either one penny, or two empty jam jars. Next time, rather than putting mine into the recycling bin, I'll bring them to the West End. I wonder how many theatres will let me in...?
T. W. Beach's jams and bottled fruits could be found in many places, including Whiteleys department store in Bayswater, where they were amongst the most expensive jams on offer, or the slightly less prestigious shop of A. Spicknell in Anerley.

A. Spicknell
Fruiterer & Greengrocer
Agent For
Beach Unrivalled Bottled Fruits
& Prize Medal Whole Fruit Jams.
At least two more signs were painted on this wall. However only a few words and letters can be spotted here and there. It is a bit tricky to say which one belongs to which. Here is what I could make of it (the "/" indicates they are on the same line): S. C. Du...
Auction Valuer / ...edd... Manufacturer
And
... ...ouse Agents
Location: Anerley Road / Picture taken on: 17/06/2008

Pulcinella, Battersea

The two weeks before Ash Wednesday and the penitential season of Lent mark the climax of the carnival period. The Venice carnival began last week and the one of Rio got under way today, to name but the two most famous ones. Costumes and masks are important accessories in many carnivals. Hidden behind her or his disguise, one can indulge in total anonimity. In Italy the characters of the Commedia dell'arte, such as Colombina, Arlecchino or Pulcinella have long been a source of inspiration for participants.
Unfortunately this Pulcinella won't be able to take part in any carnival anymore. A couple of months after I took this picture the name of the restaurant was changed from 'Il Cantuccio di Pulcinella' to 'Cantuccio' and the outside wall painted in a hygienic but uninspiring white. Shame.


Location: St John's Hill / Picture taken on: 05/03/2008