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CITY | ARCHIVE
Historian Kirsten Elliott delves into the evolution of advertising and invites us to read the historic writing on the walls of Bath
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f you were to be asked what Bath is famous for, you might reply its hot springs, with the Roman Baths and the spa, or its architecture. To others, it might be the connection with famous authors such as Jane Austen. But for a growing band of dedicated aficionados, there is another attraction. It is home to a veritable treasure trove of ghost signs. Ghost signs are those fading remains of advertisements which were once painted on many a well-placed wall to promote trade. On some, the words are clear – on others, a muddle of letters can be seen where one version was painted on top of another, only for the earlier one to begin to show through. Ghost sign collectors call these palimpsests. It becomes almost a compulsion, each time you pass one, to have another go at deciphering the mysterious layers. Ghost signs exert a peculiar fascination. They bring back to life an earlier age, when bread was baked in the local bakery, dairies sold milk and eggs in the heart of town, and butchers advertised such delicacies as ‘Dill’s famous polonies’, as Mr Whatley of Cheap Street did in the late 19th century. What makes Bath so special is that it has some very old ghost signs indeed.
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PALIMPSESTS: main photo, an early 20th century example of over-writing on Cleveland Terrace which includes an advertisement for Devonshire Dairy and another for Bovril Above, clockwise from top left: Dill’s polonies advertised in Cheap Street, late 19th century; the brush factory in Milsom Street; Spratt’s dog – in the 1930s this building was Pointing’s Corn Merchants, which also sold dog food; around 1909 Arthur Vaughan opened a greengrocery business at 16 George Street and had the words fruit and flowers painted on the chimney stack
Advertisements on walls are not new. On the contrary, they have a very long history. Some have been found at Pompeii, for example, and at other ancient archaeological sites. But the heyday began in the early 19th century. The first sign-writers were known as chalkers – they chalked advertisements on convenient walls. Soon, however, signwriting became a skill in itself, although many craftsmen combined it with other trades such as plumbers, glaziers, decorators. Even gasfitters and general engineers, like the Bowler family of Bath, took on signwriting as a sideline. Others, however, specialised in signs, and showed off their skills on the façades of their premises. Such a demonstration of the signwriter’s art can be seen at 27A & B, Belvedere, Lansdown Road, where R Boseley demonstrated his talents in a plethora of what today we call fonts. This would be frowned on by modern designers but acted as a trade sample for potential clients. The earliest ghost signs tend to be local, carried out by local craftsmen for small businesses. They can be seen right across the Bath area, from Batheaston and Bathford in the east, to Twerton in the west. As you head for Bristol, you may notice the remains of Avon
Buildings. Now looking very dilapidated – there have been applications to be demolish them– they still proudly advertise the wares of E Dillon and Son, purveyors of prime English Meat. Dillon took over the shop about 1905 and the firm was there until the early 1960s. Eventually, big business saw the advantages of large painted signs. However, companies such as Players or Nestlés demanded a consistency of design, achieved through the use of painters’ guides. These were issued centrally, by the marketing department or advertising agency, and then scaled to the appropriate size before preparing paper or fabric to set the design onto the wall. Possibly such companies hired a travelling team to produce signs, giving consistency, but it lessened the artistic input from the signwriter. On the corner of Hot Bath Street, a Nestlé’s corporate poster has been painted over an earlier, but still visible, sign. This advertised the grocery run by the Misses Large, and advertised Milkmaid Milk. This was produced by the Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company, established in the UK at Chippenham in 1873. In 1905 it merged with its rival, Nestlé’s, to form the Nestlé & Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company. The new company adopted a DECEMBER 2015
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