Here's to a great 2010. And here's to a more prosperous year.
And here are some lovely date stamps on buildings in London.
I have limited this collection to the 1800s. At a later date(!) I will put together a collection of the best ones I have for the 1900s.
I seem to have 'collected' more 1888 date stamps than any others, though this is probably because it really lends itself to a bit of creative typography. Or, coincidentally, perhaps that was a particularly productive year? But I have only shown two of the ones I have here.
Actually, I now think the latter statement is true, as a quick double-check shows that I have just as many for 1898 as for the previous year, and four of those are shown here.
I especially like the one here top left which is part of a fan light over a door; the date is 1898/9. And top right is also great with the word 'built' also with intertwined characters.
Oh, and the backwards 4, bottom right, is a nice touch.
Middle row: 1861 Clapham Road, 1899 High Street Acton, 1898 Charterhouse Street, 1888 Lower Clapton Road, 1884 Southwark Bridge Road.
Bottom Row: 1806 upper Street, 1888 Kings Cross Road, 1893 Holloway Road, 1898 Wardour Street, 1884 Fleet Street.
Happy New Year Jane! Hope you had a lovely Christmas and New Year
ReplyDeleteSee you soon xxx
Lovely! I have a collection of these, too, with 1898 the winner. (Brittany seems better than London for the 1700s, perhaps because there's so much granite.)
ReplyDeleteHappy new year!
Very nice, but bottom right, surely ?
ReplyDeleteThanks Anon, I have amended it.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year all... I am back in London now but I don't remember ordering this horrible cold weather... perhaps I should have stayed away a bit longer... brrrr!
I've actually done a statistical survey of these in London, using several hundred stones; they rise steadily until about 1900, then fall away very sharply with WW1. I found 1897-98 to be the peak years.
ReplyDeleteConrad; and there was I think I was the only nerd in town!
ReplyDeleteI was thinking of making a chronological collection... watch this space; it make take a while but I will get there some day, even if it's one decade at a time...