Harry Seaman
Harry Seaman clearly wanted to make best use of this
ideal advertising site,
high up on the chimney stack and on the wall, facing those travelling
down
the hill. 4 Argyle Street has been used in recent years as a Battered
Wives
Refuge. The lettering is something of a mystery. The drop-shadow
'HAR...'
of 'Harry' survives as an angled sign on the chimney. Presumably this
was
superceded by the rebuilding/reshaping of the wall on which a large,
rendered
cartouche was placed. A recent coat of warm grey paint would, one would
assume, completely obliterate the original letterings. However, we
noticed
that on damp days, the droplets clung to the surface betraying the
advertisment
beneath: 'Harry Seaman: Builder & Funeral Director(?)'; a common
pairing
of trades of yore. If you made the coffins, why not fit them and
organise
the funeral, too? This lettering is just visible in the close-up image
below:
-
A similar cartouche in the same condition is situated
on the opposite end
of the building, designed to catch the eye of the passer-by in Spring Road (which has the H.W. Turner sign).
Just opposite this building is the Ipswich
Board School with a notable, if weathered, crest and lettering.
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Copyright throughout this site belongs to Borin Van Loon, 2003.