ADVERTISING SIGN.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 279, 24 November 1928, Page 11 (Supplement)

ADVERTISING SIGN.

AN ANCIENT DEVICE,

USED BY GBEEKS AND ROMANS

ADOPTED BY TRADESMEN.

The story of signs and sign-making is told in the printed programme of the recent convention of the Associated Signcrafts of North America in part as follows;—

"The excavation of the ancient cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii, covered with the ashes of Vesuvius gave forth many new discoveries about Roman life. The'excavators found manv em.Hematic simis that had done publicity duty before the old Roman inns. The first sign about which we have any historical knowledge is a bunch of grapes It was carved in stone and hung above the portals of one of these old taverns.

"The Greeks, it is surmised, also employed signs in the same way, as many allusions from the old Greek writers indicate. These first signs, carved or moulded from clay, are the forerunners of the painted sign of to-day. "During the Middle Ages, in Europe, when the people were seldom abeto read, for education was far from being general, it was necessary for tradesmen to have signs before their places w indicate the nature of the business they were conducting. The symbolic sign was then most in evidence, such as the three gilded balls of the pawnbroker, and which is one of the ancient forms that survive to this day. The barber pole is another example. "The barber pole has a history that i, far from being uninteresting, h was once thought that all ill. afflicting human flesh might be relieved by the letting of the victim's Wood Plebo on it was called. General Washington, in his last illness, was relieved of some blood by the doctors. "In those (lavs the barber became a blood-letter, and in fact he lias never relinquished the job. The barber provided a pole that his victim was asked to grasp tightly, so as to steady his nerves, ami when not in use the pole was placed outside the door, with the white and often blood-stained muslin ligatures wrapped around it. lhe law required this. _

Symbolism of the Stripes. "From this circumstance arose the use of the striped pole, with its red stripes, symbolising blood, the white stripes indicating the muslin ligatures or bandages and the blue serving to express the feelings of the victim. The pole was surmounted with a fixture that represented a basin, used for catching the blood in. Thus essentially is the barber pole of to-day. But there arc not so many poles in evidence now, the tendcncV being to have less display of the kind' around the. outside of the shop, especially first-class shops. "A century ago in England it was not unusual to find signs painted by the best artists of the day, sometimes as payment to mine host for lodging and food furnished, and more rarely, perhaps, in return for needed cash. '"The Spectator,' a periodical published in the days of Queen Anne, spcaki„.r of the signs used then says: 'Some of these signs were so elaborately ami beautifully done that they deserved rather to'be in a picture gallery than on a signpost.' "The most important event m sign painting in our country was the introduction of the art of gilding letters on Mass, in 1828, by an Englishman by the n namc of Edwards. This gave great impetus to the art of sign painting for business houses, banks, etc., and its importance cannot be over-estimated. Aaam and Eve Pictured.

"Without a question, the first jowney that ever mortals made on this round earth was the unwilling flight of Adam and Eve from the .aide., of Eden out into an empty world, without signs or sign painting. And still, in later a»es, they have not infrequently been depicted on signs which hosts have hull" out to proclaim a hospitality not gratuitous but hearty. So m one of JbVarth's drawings, of the year lioU, 'Tin? March of the Guards Toward Scotland' which the artist himself later etched and dedicated to Frederick the Great, we see Adam and Eve figuring on a tavern sign. "The original sign of the tavern keeper is the wreath of ivy with which Bacchus and his companions are crowned, and which twines around the Bacchante's thyrsos stall". As the ivy is evergreen, so is Bacchus every young (juvenis semper) Shakespeare's 'eternal boy.' '"'Painted and carved animal images also served as signs in Roman times. Wo have a few examples left, and the names of a great many more. In Pompeii there was a little inn called the Elephant. The sign represents an elephant, around whose body a,/serpent is entwined, and to whose defense a dwarf is running. "Among other figures of animals on Roman signs the eagle was a great favourite. The Romans bore (he eagle on their standards, after having long accorded the honour to the she-wolf, the minotaur and the wild boar. We find all the Roman animal signs—storks, bears, dragons, as well as the eagle, the cock and° the elephant—in the later Christian ages. "The painting of heraldic designs goes back to the time of the Crusaders and soon became the principal source of income of the painters. In the Netherlands, which grew to be such a wonderful hotbed of art, the sign painters were called 'Schilderer,' for that same reason, a name which clings to then, to the present day. Whoever has travelled knows that the same custom of the nobility to give coats of arms to the landlords.prevailed there too. Hospitality to the Guilds.

"A hospitality of more intricate character was given by the guilds, in their houses, to all the members of the-trade or craft. Most naturally they chose as signs symbols of the special work of each guild. Tile fisher and boatmen loved to see a fish, an anchor or a ship over their tavern door; but they did not claim these signs as a special privilege. "The shoemakers most naturally decorated their guild house with a beautiful big boot. The butchers seldom show the cruel axe, far oftener the poetical lamb, their oldest sign being the Pascal lamb holding the little flag of the resurrection. A patriotic English landlord in the neighbourhood of Bath changed the flag into a Union Jack, forgetting all about the religious meaning of the sign. "The tavern signs of the bakers, 'The Crown,' 'The Sun' or 'The Star,' lead us back to old Pagan times in ■which the cakes offered as sacrifice to the gods were shaped in the same curious forms which we observe to-day in our various 1 fejreakfast rolls. _ . ..

"We may infer the great popularity of signs by the ceremonious way in which they were changed when a guild removed to other quarters. The sign was carried in solemn procession to the new inn and hung up with blasts of trumpets. "In medieval times the signs were not only charming or pious decorations of the' snug narrow streets, but they were also very useful and practical guides for the wayfarer through the labyrinth of crooked lanes. Therefore, if somebody wished to send a letter to his banker in Fleet Street, London, he needed only to tell his messenger that it was at the 'Three Squirrels' and he was sure that even the greatest numbskull could find it..

''So the sign was in many ways a useful institution topographically, politically and morally. Its merits are not yet exhausted: it was a good weather prophet, too. When the old iron things bcga.it to moan and to squeak, storin and rain surely were not far off, as an English rhyme-whimsically says:

But when the swinging signs your ears offend, With creaking noise, then rainy floods impend,