Home & People

Press, 21 October 1978, Page 8

Home & People

Street Jewellery: A History' of Enamel Advertising Signs. By Christopher Baglee and Andrew Morley. New Cavendish Books. 87pp. $10.75.

The reaction of those who have no particularly strong liking for old things will probably be “what will people collect next?” Objects so prosaic and once so taken for granted as enamel advertising signs are now taken sufficiently seriously by some that they warrant an exhibition, and an associated book, being devoted to them.

The exhibition will not be seen outside Britain; the book stands on its own as an acceptable sub-

stitute, and perhaps as an encouragement to similar serious collecting of such items in New Zealand.

The book has a powerful nostalgic appeal, recalling both in the quality of the signs and in what they depict a different age, one when signs could be made to last, even signs bearing a price. But the hope that, enamel signs might see a revival in an age newly aware of the values of conservation and nonexpendabiiity is probably indeed, as the authors concede, a wistful thought, too optimistic to entertain seriously.

The implication of the title is that enamel street signs are things to be enjoyed, admired and

value for their intrinsic qualities of colour, durability and visual appeal. The colour reproductions of many signs justify the title — some of the old signs are truly gems.

The authors of the volume (themselves avid collectors) also, however, substantiate a claim that the signs can provide a revealing if somewhat unorthodox “documentation” of the .past. The imaginative social historian could profitably use them, like buildings and other cultural and domestic relics, to supplement literary sources to illuminate life in late nineteenth and early twentieth century' Britain (or New Zealand), particularly the

emergence of new lower and lower-middle-class consumers.

The authors touch on these aspects of their topic. They also give much incidental information about manufacturing techniques, the different firms in the business of producing the signs, where the signs were put, what designs, textures and type styles were preferred and the collection, preservation and restoration of signs which have survived. This information is incidental only because the main appeal of the book is nostalgic and aesthetic and lies in the satisfactory reproduction of so many interesting and attractive old signs.