Signs of the times

I got to thinking the other day. Yes, I know - that's always a dangerous thing to do, especially at my age. It tends to mean that while I am thinking I am paying no attention to my surroundings. I might walk into a tree or lamppost, or trip over the kerb or even walk in front of a bus. Fortunately, none of that happened to me the other day. I merely wandered off down some metaphorical side track and then down another equally metaphorical turning.

My thoughts had started by being musings on how modern pub signs are less amusing and/or artistic than they were in the days of my youth. Then I decided that this was due in part to the fact that pub names are less inspiring than they were. (In fact, on reflection I have decided that neither is true.) This led me on to thinking about business signs in general: a red and white striped pole for a barber, a bush for an ale house. And, more specifically, "at the sign of the spread eagle" for Barclays Bank or "at the sign of the swan" in such-and-such a town for an inn. I was musing about how much we miss these days by not having these signs when it dawned on me: we do have them, but they are in a different form. The trade marks and, more like the old signs, corporate logos.

But to get back to my original thoughts - pub signs. Whitbreads were especially good - as in the example above - but others were less imaginative and some just had a hanging sign with the name of the pub painted on it; no picture at all. Boring.

So I have decided to investigate. I will take a closer look at any pub sign I come across. Indeed, I might even photograph them and report back here at a later date. Of course, I could always investigate more thoroughly...