BANK BANNERS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 48, Issue 76, 10 January 1928, Page 2

BANK BANNERS.

OLD LOMBARD STREET SIGNS

None who was unaware of its history could clothe the Lombard Street of today in the picturesque garb it wore in Elizabethan times. Yet the stone and metal signs that appear outside several of the modern buildings in this stony canyon of commerce and banking are only the last relics of a street that was once gay with the banners of its calling (says “John O’London’s Weekly”). Originally Lombard Street, which has been a goldsmiths’ quarter from earliest times, boasted 104 trading signs, some of which were affixed to posts' in front of the houses, while others projected far into the roadway. The first sign was erected by Thomas Muscliamp, goldsmith to Queen Elizabeth, who conducted his business at “The Ring and Ruby.”

Other gold and silver smiths were quick to follow his example, and soon there was scarcely a house in the street without its coloured sign to guide the illiterate customer. Animal,- human, ar.d spiritual forms of life were all sources of inspiration for those early sign-writers. Thus,, “The Flying Horse,” “Adam and Eve’.” and ‘‘The Angel” were three of the earliest designs. Others that still flourish above establishments of a different order included “Acorn,” “Cardinal’s Cap,” “Haunch of Venison,” “Spotted Dog,” “White Swan,” “Dolphin,” “Black Moor’s Head,” “Bolt and Tun,” “Fleece,” “Golden Key,” “Artichoke,” “Red Cap,” “Cradle,” “Feathers,” and “Mar may d.”

The protruding signs must have "severly taxed the narrow confines of the street; many of them hung dangerously low and incurred Royal displeasure. It was impracticable fashions of this kind that contributed to make the Great Fire one of the most successful conflagrations in history, and it was after this event that the wooden boards were replaced by stone designs built into the fronts of the houses. Of the, 104 original signs 68 can still be identified with the present buildings. Many of the older banks still print their signs on notenaper and clieoues. Thus the Bank of Liverpool and Martin’s is famous for ' its Grasshopper badge, originally the crest of Sir Thomas Gresham, who founded the Royal Exchange, over which a grasshopper still flourishes. Similarly, Hoare’s, the oldest private bank in London, first conducted business at “Ye Olde Leather Bottel” ; in the seventeenth century the sign became gilded, and now anpears outside the bank as a Golden Bottle, and not a. bag of bullion, for which it is often mistaken. A Marigold, a Black Houre, Three Crowns, and an Anchor still appear on the cheques of Child’s, Lloyds’, Coutts’s, and Glyn Mills and Co.’s banks respectively. The amalgamation of various old banks has caused in certain cases a pooling of signs in the parent concern. Thus, the seal of Barclay’s Bank combines a Black Spreadeagle with a Ram and a Bible, while a subsidiary branch still uses its old signs of three squirrels.