Leonard Bentley
Piccadilly Circus: 1948
This is a Valentine & Sons Ltd “Silveresque” postcard posted to Hereford in April 1955, there are three clues to the date of the photograph. The first Ealing Studios film in Technicolor, “Saraband for Dead Lovers” played at the Leicester Square Theatre from 9th September until 7th October 1948. The film starred Stewart Granger, Joan Greenwood and Flora Robson with a supporting role played by Christopher Lee. The film, “The Weaker Sex” played at the Odeon, Marble Arch from 25th September until 14th October, it is advertised on a hoarding and on the side of a bus bottom left. It starred Cecil Parker, Ursula Jeans and Joan Hopkins with Thora Hird in a supporting part. At the London Pavilion the American film noir mystery, “Sleep, My Love” starring Claudette Colbert, Robert Cummings and Don Ameche played from 23rd September until 7th October. The small sign above the Wrigley's chewing gum sign which says “Say Siegert’s” is an advertisement for Dr. J.G.B. Seigert’s "Bouquet Rum" but his most famous product was Angostura Bitters, the essential ingredient for a proper Pink Gin. Dr. Siegert was an Army Doctor with a Prussian Regiment at the Battle of Waterloo and in 1820 he travelled to Venezuela where the revolutionary, Simon Bolivar was attempting to wrest the country away from the Spanish Empire. Dr. Siegert based himself in the port of Angostura at the mouth of the Orinoco River and originally developed the bitters as a remedy for upset stomachs, a common ailment in the tropics. The town later changed its name to Ciudad Bolivar. The remedy was taken to other countries by sailors who visited the port and the demand grew. After Dr. Siegert’s death, his sons moved the factory to Trinidad because of the unstable political situation in Venezuela, nothing new there then, the company remain in Trinidad to this day. It is said that only one person outside the Siegert family knows what exactly goes into the concoction at any one time, the family were so paranoid about the secret recipe getting out that just before the war they lodged a copy in a Port of Spain Bank, another one in a safe in the factory and a third was cut into four pieces and a piece was sent to an attorney in New York. When safe delivery was acknowledged another piece was sent and so on until the copy was complete. Today with the explosion of Gin brands you can get a Pink Gin already mixed in the bottle although it may be coloured and flavoured by Rhubarb, Strawberries, Raspberries and any number of other adulterations, but for a proper Pink Gin it’s got to be Angostura Bitters.
Piccadilly Circus: 1948
This is a Valentine & Sons Ltd “Silveresque” postcard posted to Hereford in April 1955, there are three clues to the date of the photograph. The first Ealing Studios film in Technicolor, “Saraband for Dead Lovers” played at the Leicester Square Theatre from 9th September until 7th October 1948. The film starred Stewart Granger, Joan Greenwood and Flora Robson with a supporting role played by Christopher Lee. The film, “The Weaker Sex” played at the Odeon, Marble Arch from 25th September until 14th October, it is advertised on a hoarding and on the side of a bus bottom left. It starred Cecil Parker, Ursula Jeans and Joan Hopkins with Thora Hird in a supporting part. At the London Pavilion the American film noir mystery, “Sleep, My Love” starring Claudette Colbert, Robert Cummings and Don Ameche played from 23rd September until 7th October. The small sign above the Wrigley's chewing gum sign which says “Say Siegert’s” is an advertisement for Dr. J.G.B. Seigert’s "Bouquet Rum" but his most famous product was Angostura Bitters, the essential ingredient for a proper Pink Gin. Dr. Siegert was an Army Doctor with a Prussian Regiment at the Battle of Waterloo and in 1820 he travelled to Venezuela where the revolutionary, Simon Bolivar was attempting to wrest the country away from the Spanish Empire. Dr. Siegert based himself in the port of Angostura at the mouth of the Orinoco River and originally developed the bitters as a remedy for upset stomachs, a common ailment in the tropics. The town later changed its name to Ciudad Bolivar. The remedy was taken to other countries by sailors who visited the port and the demand grew. After Dr. Siegert’s death, his sons moved the factory to Trinidad because of the unstable political situation in Venezuela, nothing new there then, the company remain in Trinidad to this day. It is said that only one person outside the Siegert family knows what exactly goes into the concoction at any one time, the family were so paranoid about the secret recipe getting out that just before the war they lodged a copy in a Port of Spain Bank, another one in a safe in the factory and a third was cut into four pieces and a piece was sent to an attorney in New York. When safe delivery was acknowledged another piece was sent and so on until the copy was complete. Today with the explosion of Gin brands you can get a Pink Gin already mixed in the bottle although it may be coloured and flavoured by Rhubarb, Strawberries, Raspberries and any number of other adulterations, but for a proper Pink Gin it’s got to be Angostura Bitters.