Spitalfields

The Donovan Bros Sign at 46 Crispin Street

The Donovan Bros sign at 46 Crispin Street has a fascinating story to tell, and here’s more about proprietor Patrick Donovan and signwriter Alfred Keil.

22 Feb 2022
The Curious Case of Two French Milliners

Two almost identical painted shopfronts for French Milliners, just two miles about, raise questions about chronology and authenticity.

3 May 2021
A Cluster of Ghost Signs Intrigue in Spitalfields’ Artillery Grounds

A cluster of ghost signs including advertising for a dairy, a boundary marker and a street sign offer some intrigue in Spitalfields’ former Artillery Grounds.

16 Nov 2020
A 1984 Photo of the Spitalfields Gillette Ghost Sign

I first posted about this illustrated Gillette ghost sign on Commercial Street back in 2007 when I came across it on Frank Jump’s Fading Ads blog. Frank told me that the best place to photograph it was from the top of the nearby carpark which led to my 2008 capture above. Recently the sign had […]

25 May 2018
S. Sadler, Brick Lane

This beautiful glass fascia was captured by Brian Heppell after being revealed briefly in 2014 during the fitting of new signage at 192 Brick Lane, London E1. I have looked for S. Sadler by name in the trades section of a number of Victorian and early 20th Century street directories but nothing has come up. […]

17 Nov 2017
East End Shops from Spitalfields Life

Spitalfields Life has published a series of pieces documenting East End shop fronts, in support of the campaign against the forthcoming rise in business rates across the area. I have picked one photo from each piece and would encourage a proper browse of all of them. Fascinating stuff! Alan Dein’s East End Shops John Claridge’s […]

4 Mar 2017
Spitalfields Ghostsigns from Philip Marriage

Philip Marriage recently sent me this photo of these perpendicular palimpsests at the junction of Brick Lane and Princelet Street. He was trying to work out what they say. This followed his question about the location of another Spitalfields ghostsign which followers on Twitter and Facebook were able to track down to Hanbury Street. I […]

20 Dec 2016
Paper & Bags: Spitalfields Mystery

Philip Marriage got in touch with the photograph above, taken in the Spitalfields area in 1985. It is part of a wider collection of archive photos that he has, many published on the Spitalfields Life blog here. Philip has been trying to pinpoint the locations of each of his photos, with some being easier than […]

6 Oct 2016
Gillette Razors

Frank Jump just posted this London sign he photographed while visiting in Spring 2001. It’s a classic Gillette ad with the characteristic blue background colour. The sign below is one I took on Clapham High Street and part of a an ongoing Campaign that Gillette ran in the Brickad format. You can see on the Clapham […]

2 Jul 2007