Last week, I had a very enjoyable few pints in the Welcome Inn on Parnell Place. I did avail of the opportunity to photograph some of their pictures and old advertisements. I do not recall ever having seen this one before. It did remind me of the photograph that I had taken at The Lough. Sharing these is as good a reason as any for a blog. I don’t recall seeing the swans for some time but it is twenty one years later |
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As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I was in Castlelyons last weekend. For the past few months, I have been keeping an eye out for old ads. I was able to add to my collection. I regularly hear our seven year old singing advertising tunes and jingles.
We probably all did it when growing up. I suspect that the ads that one remembers would assist in determining one’s age. We stopped for a small few quality pints in Michael Fawl’s Railway Bar on O’Connell St., Ennis over the New Year break. The old advertisements and paraphernalia there has pushed me to create a section of the website for old adverts. There – a New Year’s resolution, of sorts No pressure - still over three hundred and sixty days left.
It is interesting to contemplate that there obviously was a time when use of the words ‘Fancy Goods’ was considered likely to encourage customers to enter. In this time of Unique Selling Points and Memory Hooks, I suspect that its effectiveness as a marketing tool may be limited. But then again, as has been commented more than once, it is not that I will ever be anyway near a marketing expert. Similar to my recent post on O’Leary’s Office Supplies, this building is further up Washington St. with a dated script in the wall writing.
Interesting that at the time Bedsteads were considered to be the most important item to advertised. I do not think they are generally advertised by bedding and furniture. I suppose this records what was important at a time. I noted the proud plaster writing on the façade of the building on Oliver Plunkett St. I went to Tom Spalding’s book ‘Cork City: A Field guide to its Street Furniture’ where he listed the main manufacturers of wrought and cast iron street furniture but no company listed at 120 Oliver Plunkett St. When I did some web searching, I almost missed it as Oliver Plunkett St was George’s Street in 1913. But I was able to find that R Pulvertaft & Sons were the Brass Foundry who traded from the building. I am a fan of painted adverts on buildings, especially when they stay for many decades.
O’Leary’s Office Supplies Relocated some years ago but the signs do bring a smile for the script, the regularity and their appropriateness with the brickwork. Is it not strange that there was an age when a company’s unique selling points include stocking bags and twine. There I was one morning enjoying my Americano in Cork Coffee Roasters on Bridge St.. I probably had also indulged in a scone. I was seated at the window counter watching the world go by on Bridge St. and Coburg St.. I was minding my own business. Then I started to overhear the conversation of the couple next to me. They were trying to make out the old painted writing on the wall of the shop opposite. The lintels over the windows appear to have been replaced which has resulted in some replacement brickwork. This in turn requires a greater degree of guessing or interpolation. Joining into their conversation, the three of us were still unsure as to the wording. Later I was able to search the internet and found mention of Landon’s premises in a lovely webpage from National Library of Ireland – Nineteen minutes past 11 o’clock – where the answer can be found. I have recently been keeping an eye out for dated or old advertising signs that are still on display – some are on shops that have been closed down for a while.
I am not sure if it is the book Over the Counter by Clare Keogh started this idea or whether it sprouted from the photographs on Derelict Nation but I have been thinking that these are actually records of the little details of the past. Maybe some food that was liked but no longer exists – Golly Bar; Aztec bar. Maybe a publication – Cork Examiner; Irish Press. Or maybe just an advertising campaign of a certain time. Regardless of the source, these adverts do result in stopping to remember. I fully understand the need for sporting organisations to secure sponsorship revenue. But, I definitely do not favour changing the name of a stadium – it may need to change again when sponsor changes and in many cases the location predated the sponsorship agreement. Just as Christy Ring Park will always be Flower Lodge to me, also it will always be Lansdowne Road and not some insurance company. One aspect of sponsorship that I had difficulty with was branding on the jersey. Again, it changes and so jersey is dated. As a fan, I may want to support the team but not necessarily the sponsor printed on it. I have generally of late worn non-sponsored jerseys when at matches. I remember when on holidays in Rome attending a Lazio match (wearing my Munster jersey) and being surprised that most took off their jerseys as they left the ground – for fashion reasons or for security reasons passing through Roma-supporter area, I am unsure. I have vague recollection that Jimmy Hill’s Coventry City were one of the first First Division teams to have sponsorship on a jersey – Talbot Cars I think. I didn’t think it great back then either. With the new sponsor on board for Cork GAA, The Evening Echo sticker of the old jersey is now just a record of a time in history. I would regularly have stopped at traffic lights at end of Popes Quay but it was only in last week or so that I spotted this painted writing on wall near the funeral home. It proves that there is much to be taken in if I only slow down to read what is there. It also raises the question as to whether there was another sign horizontally above the first floor windows. I have never heard of Arnott’s Porter – a possible candidate for resurrection by a microbrewery. |
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