The History of Signboards, from the Earliest times to the Present Day

Metadata

Gutenberg ID

45249

Title

The History of Signboards, from the Earliest times to the Present Day

Language

en

Book source

Project Gutenberg

Description max 80 words

This Victorian-era volume chronicles the evolution of house-signs from ancient times to 1866, exploring their origins in trade, heraldry, and humor. Blending historical fact with anecdotal charm, the text offers a nostalgic glimpse into old London life, explaining how these colorful emblems once guided the illiterate and advertised business success before the age of street numbering.

Summary up to 500 words

Compiled by Jacob Larwood and John Camden Hotten, *The History of Signboards, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day* offers a comprehensive survey of house-signs, a subject previously treated only in occasional magazine articles. The authors classify signs into categories such as Historic, Heraldic, Animal, and Humorous, acknowledging that many compound signs are arbitrary combinations rather than deep allegories. The work details how signs derived street names, honored naval victories, and reflected local trades, ranging from the 'Ship and Anchor' to the 'Three Mariners.' Hotten and Larwood incorporate anecdotes of famous taverns like the Tabard and the Mitre, noting their eventual destruction due to urban development. The text explains the symbolism behind anchors representing hope, ships indicating maritime connections, and various beasts or objects denoting specific professions. It also addresses the decline of signboards as literacy spread and house numbering systems were introduced, preserving them now as decorative relics of ancestral humor. The book serves as both an etymological resource for place names and a sentimental record of bygone manners, capturing the atmosphere of old coffee-houses, noisy taverns, and quiet bookshops before the rapid changes of the late 19th century erased them. Larwood and Hotten emphasize that while signboards were once indispensable in an illiterate society, they eventually lingered only as advertisements of established reputation or instances of decorative humor. The volume acts as a rescue mission for history, documenting the names of persons and places, the modes of thought of former inhabitants, and the extinct customs of the past. As London rapidly changed its aspect, the authors feared that many particulars gathered could no longer be collected, making this work a timely preservation of the olden time's character, from the taverns frequented by King Charles II to the quiet shops of ancient booksellers.

LLM editorial rating

4.2/5

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https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/45249.epub.noimages

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data/epubs/pg45249.epub

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Categories

• History
• Travel