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Gone out of fashion

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Spargone said:
Over at 'Ghost Signs' mention has been made of 'Barbers Tea'. Has anyone else noticed how our traditional Barber's pole, (as in hair cutter), has been quietly changed over the years?

The story that I was told as a child was that barbers used to engage in the odd bit of surgery and their white and red pole represented clean and bloodied bandages. Look around now and for the most part the modern version is red, white and blue!

Who stole that bit of our history and why?
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I have heard something like that!
 
The following link is interesting to read, and blames the Americans for bastardising the pole with blue stripes to make it look like the colours of their flag, though also says that blue is the colour of venous blood and red arterial blood

www.pallmallbarbers.com

History of the Barber's Pole | Pall Mall Barbers

The Barber's Pole is a symbol of the barber trade. It originated in medieval times when barbers used poles to hang their tools outside their shops.
www.pallmallbarbers.com www.pallmallbarbers.com
 
The pram in the pic went out of fashion many years ago ... who would want to push a pram with metal wheels when prams with solid rubber tyres became available. There are various reasons why things go out of fashion ... that's the way things are ... :)
oldMohawk said:
I look at this pic and for some reason I get the impression that the only man in the pic is walking by hoping no one has seen him ....he looks furtive !
The wheels on that pram look like the wheels on the mystery cart in post #182 (can't repair link because target thread is locked)
vvv.jpeg
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Does anyone remember the sets of blue, red, green and yellow vertical lights found in factories? I think they may have been some sort of semaphore system.

There were some in the old Science Museum on Newhall Street
 
Morturn said:
Does anyone remember the sets of blue, red, green and yellow vertical lights found in factories? I think they may have been some sort of semaphore system.

There were some in the old Science Museum on Newhall Street
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I never worked in a factory with them fitted, but I visited several where they were used. I was told they were to indicate staggered lunch breaks, each person had their code.
Andrew.
 
Radiorails said:
Something very similar was to be seen at Lewis's and Greys department stores - usually, if I remember correctly, near the lifts.
View attachment 171934
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Something like that were used at Marston Green Hospital. It was a primitive form of Pager. A set of these lights were outside of every ward. Key staff were given a colour and if their colour was lit they had to contact or go to that ward.
They were long obsolete when I worked there. They were eventually removed when new telephone equipment was installed.


;
 
Shopping baskets. I really wanted one of those gondola baskets but couldn't afford one, I just had an ordinary one for school cookery. Mom's basket was very heavy and even worse full of vegetables! A neighbour had a lovely wheeled basket with a walking-stick type handle.
rosie.
 
Basins with left & right taps. I hate the modern basins with just one tap in the middle, always banging my head on the damn thing, & a cabinet above the basin is just as bad. Maybe it`s just clumsy me !
 
Smudger said:
Basins with left & right taps. I hate the modern basins with just one tap in the middle, always banging my head on the damn thing, & a cabinet above the basin is just as bad. Maybe it`s just clumsy me !
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Smudger, all of our bathrooms have left and right taps. The only place we have a single is in the kitchen. And to make things worse we just installed a Farmhouse white porcelain sink that I hated when I was growing up. I guess what comes around goes around!
 
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