Sad to see The Saloon sign in Kings Cross Road has been covered up.

I recently spotted that the old carved and gilded barbershop/hairdresser sign at 205 Kings Cross Road has been replaced with a modern plastic sign. I am disappointed to say the least.

Here are two images showing how it used to look. First my photos from 2008 when the sign was surrounded in bright blue paint (apologies for the low-res image – I can’t access my originals right now) followed by a Google streetview screengrab showing it in 2022:

But this is how it looks now, blending into its surroundings and looking like an extension to the shop next door:

Pics: Jane Parker, 20 April 2026

This old carved and gilded sign was a stop on my Kings Cross Ghostsigns guided tour. Whilst leading that tour in April 2024, two of the barbers came out to listen as I talked to my group about the sign-making process and who made this, as indicated by the name at the bottom right hand corner.

A conversation ensued. The barbers told us that they were planning to change the sign because they felt it didn't advertise their company, that 'The Saloon' made no sense, that potential customers didn't understand what was being offered. I/we responded that everyone in the area knew the sign as a local historic landmark and with the barber's pole and their own bright red A-frame signage outside they surely didn't need to change anything. We begged them not to change it. 

They pondered and then asked me if I knew a company that could repair the sign because the gilding within some of the letters has slipped. This is visible in the pic above. For me, the slippage is a bonus as it shows the handmade construction process. I gave them a few company names (which they didn't write down) as well as my business card, and told them to contact me for more info. I never heard from them. Going forward, every time I passed I rarely spotted any customers in there. 

They clearly blamed the old sign for their lack of business because, at some point in the last few months, they have had a new sign installed: 'King's Cross Stylist Barbers'. I have my fingers, toes and eyes crossed that these two sheets of printed plastic have been placed across the old sign which at least will protect it, for someone else to rediscover in the future. 

But I am at a loss how they think this new signage makes the shop look more attractive. Black black black (or charcoal grey) – it's everywhere these days. Grunt. People seem to think that a scripty font on black is all you need to appear stylish and upmarket. Nope. This example looks like it was designed by someone on an episode of The Apprentice! 

Here, the branding, for want of a better word, is dark and gloomy, looking more like a funeral parlour. They have also replaced the jolly red hanging sign with a similar funereal style. 

But here's intriguing... under the main name there is a secondary line that says, 'London - saloon Est.1989' – Eh? What? How? Who? 

I wonder if this is a typo and they actually mean Est.1889 because, as far as I can make out, there has been a similar business here/next door since at least 1895, when Albert Kretschman, hairdresser (a term that used to be applied to both men and women) had a shop at No.207 until 1915. I'm guessing that Albert moved into No.205 sometime after WW2 and this dates the sign to the early interwar era. Albert is gone by 1939 when the shop is listed as Jacob Lewis, watchmaker. Perhaps Lewis covered the sign with his own thus protecting The Saloon sign until it was revealed I know not when*

The frustrating thing is, the change of signage does not appear to have made a difference to their footfall here. When I popped back yesterday lunchtime to take the pics above the place was empty apart from one fella who was sat on one of the chairs opposite the mirrors and basins, scrolling on his phone. I assumed he was waiting to be attended to, but on reflection, I now think it was one of the barbers. Such a shame on many levels. 

Pic: Google streetview

*If you can add to the research or can remember this area of Kings Cross in the 1950s onwards I'd love to find out more. Please leave a comment or send an email: jane@janeslondon.com

If you enjoyed this, you might like to read about the loss of a grocery store in Tufnell Park and a couple of dairy shop fronts near Portobello Road and near Highbury Corner 

Telegraph Place and Tokenhouse Yard

Hearing Telegram Sam by Marc Bolan on the radio yesterday, it reminded that I'd taken a series of photos in and around Telegraph Place almost a year ago whilst wandering in the City of London.

These narrow little streets are accessed via Moorgate as in the pics above, or via Throgmorton Street, and they are full of architectural delights:

A hydraulic power access point outside The Telegraph public house – this might have been for the beer pumps. Further along a teeny tiny access point for the sewers. I've not seen one of these anywhere else so I am keen to know the purpose of it. Perhaps it was manually released for temporary ventilation..?

The street is so named because this is where London's first telegraph office was sited on 1845when it was originally called Founders Court (hmm ponder ponder, suggest the land is owned by the Founders Livery Co). More telegraph and telegram references here. 

The barbershop at the looks good but, until a few years ago there was a marvellous multi-layered hand-painted sign on the mirror within its Whalebone Court entrance. It's such a shame that they saw fit to scrape off all those layers of history. As you can from my 2013 photo, the letterform was a delight. It advertised a few earlier companies here including a manicule pointing down to the chiropodist below. The blue script possibly says 'hairdressers' but might have been 'shirtdressers' where you could get your collars and cuffs replaced.

Near the barbershop, two groups of stepped windows above allow light onto a stairwell, and below them an alley beneath that building leads into Tokenhouse Yard:

There are a couple of elaborate doorways in this enclosed and evocative space and both are entrances to the old GII* listed 1872 bank building – some impressive lions flank the entrance to No.12 and a similar doorway at No.11 sports a couple of fearsome fellas. I've found some pics of the interior.

Tokenhouse Yard was where the exchanging of [small value] tokens took place. Read more about the history of this thoroughfare c/o IanVisits here – I love it when someone else has done all the homework!

Saloons – Everyone's gone to the pub or the hairdresser

Here in the UK, some restrictions as regards social distancing have been lifted – pubs with outdoor table space are open again and hairdressers are busy attacking our lockdown barnets*

It occured to me that both are historically linked by the word 'saloon' so I've pulled some pics together in my old montage-stylee showing a selection of lovely signage across London.

Most of these are pub signs but, as you can see, some are on hairdressers and barbers. Perhaps you recognise some of them or know of some other beauties...?

The separate rooms for saloon, lounge, public, private, snug and offsales is a thing of the past these days, harking back to a Victorian era of class and gender segregation. However, a few pubs in London still have the original walls/dividers and others have reinstated them. This latter section includes The Princess Louise in Holborn, the Fitzroy Tavern in Charlotte Street and the Angel at Rotherhithe. 

Never mind sitting outside a pub; that's just not for me. I am looking forward to getting back inside; to stand at a bar or sit on a barstool; to read a newspaper in a comfy chair by a real fire; to talk to barstaff and locals... sigh.

Barnet Fair = hair (London Cockney rhyming slang)