Original W. H. Smith & Son shop facia, St Albans market place. Hertfordshire
It was the lovely old shop front and original facia that caught my eye.
W. H. Smith’s beautiful lettering was designed in 1903 by Eric Gill. This font was used for the first time on the fascia of Smith’s shop on the rue de Rivoli in Paris, where it was hand-painted by Gill himself. It continued to be used by the firm into the late 1950s.
Oh that present day W. H. Smiths were so stylish!
Their present shop fronts are often the ugliest on the high street, with huge blue facia vinyls and white charmless lettering. (The out of scale bright blue facias on their Chipping Norton store in the centre of a row of elegant 18th century buildings are a particular bugbear of mine.)
The building itself is a 15th century hall, The Moot Hall or Charnel House depending on your source.
Original W. H. Smith & Son shop facia, St Albans market place. Hertfordshire
It was the lovely old shop front and original facia that caught my eye.
W. H. Smith’s beautiful lettering was designed in 1903 by Eric Gill. This font was used for the first time on the fascia of Smith’s shop on the rue de Rivoli in Paris, where it was hand-painted by Gill himself. It continued to be used by the firm into the late 1950s.
Oh that present day W. H. Smiths were so stylish!
Their present shop fronts are often the ugliest on the high street, with huge blue facia vinyls and white charmless lettering. (The out of scale bright blue facias on their Chipping Norton store in the centre of a row of elegant 18th century buildings are a particular bugbear of mine.)
The building itself is a 15th century hall, The Moot Hall or Charnel House depending on your source.