tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post8047722389029029989..comments2024-03-25T15:10:13.792+00:00Comments on English Buildings: North Ealing, LondonPhilip Wilkinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-66215168561945540952012-05-11T12:20:41.715+01:002012-05-11T12:20:41.715+01:00Worm: Interesting point. I think there were early ...Worm: Interesting point. I think there were early weather vanes that had a shape like a pennant, or poiny flag, which was itself rather like an arrow in shape. Untangling what is a pennant and what an arrow is something for someone who knows more about the history of weather vanes than I do.Philip Wilkinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-78223662372629031312012-05-11T11:13:50.959+01:002012-05-11T11:13:50.959+01:00I've just thought that I suppose there were ar...I've just thought that I suppose there were arrow shapes used on weathervanes as well? Or do you think that thats a modern pastiche invention created after the fact?wormhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02802335627720182532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-87923151832686642882012-05-10T15:27:22.037+01:002012-05-10T15:27:22.037+01:00Bazza: Agree about The Third Policeman. I'm al...Bazza: Agree about <i>The Third Policeman</i>. I'm also a great fan of the various collections of pieces from Cruiskeen Lawn, O'Brien's column in the Irish Times. The best of these collections is called <i>The Best of Myles</i>.Philip Wilkinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-24937386508007524182012-05-10T15:00:05.935+01:002012-05-10T15:00:05.935+01:00(1) I think Flann O’Brien's The Third Policema...(1) I think Flann O’Brien's <i>The Third Policeman</i> is the funniest book ever written. I Blogged about it here: http://todiscoverice.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=the+third+policeman<br />(2)What I really like about your photo is that wooden frieze they used around the canopy on old overground railway platforms.<br /><b><a href="http://todiscoverice.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow"> Click here for Bazza’s Blog ‘To Discover Ice’</a></b>bazzahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14794010156639774028noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-58104147103886702832012-05-10T13:00:57.613+01:002012-05-10T13:00:57.613+01:00DJK: Ah yes, Polling Station signs. They often hav...DJK: Ah yes, Polling Station signs. They often have pointing fingers. I'd quite forgotten about this, there being no polling this month where I am.Philip Wilkinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-31961847901904133562012-05-10T12:09:01.385+01:002012-05-10T12:09:01.385+01:00I saw a pointing finger just last week. The newly...I saw a pointing finger just last week. The newly installed sign outside the local curch said: "POLLING STATION < pointing hand >"DJKnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-50411320873004701522012-05-10T09:18:30.511+01:002012-05-10T09:18:30.511+01:00Peter: The Fletcher book is a visual Bible, the de...Peter: The Fletcher book is a visual Bible, the design equivalent of a great anthology like the Oxford Book of English Verse - but with the added benefit of it being the personal selection of a notable practitioner.Philip Wilkinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-33113538858470949502012-05-10T08:23:46.302+01:002012-05-10T08:23:46.302+01:00Guilty as charged guv.
Designer Alan Fletcher col...Guilty as charged guv.<br /><br />Designer Alan Fletcher collected pointing hands, and he put them into his essential book <i>The Art of Looking Sideways</i>.Peter Ashleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00027878122724846472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-77959743836673746552012-05-09T15:17:47.828+01:002012-05-09T15:17:47.828+01:00Good question, Worm, about the arrow.
Directiona...Good question, Worm, about the arrow. <br /><br />Directional arrows probably derive from the use of arrows on compass roses in the late Middle Ages, but they don;t seem to come in on signposts until much later.<br /><br />Milestones sometimes bear directional arrows, although my impression is that milestones with pointing fingers are more common. The ones with arrows are likely to be 19th century (the ones I've seen are cast-iron "milestones" I think), but I'm no expert on them. There were also rather ornate wrought-iron signs that had arrows at the very end of the 19th century. But even then, finger-posts and painted pointed fingers were probably more common. <br /><br />Maybe directional arrows on signs, and in graphics, became more popular in the 1920s and 1930s, in part under the influence of graphic "picture languages" such as Isotype, which used arrows extensively.Philip Wilkinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-52254143651263760582012-05-09T13:21:37.608+01:002012-05-09T13:21:37.608+01:00question - I wonder when the arrow as a graphic de...question - I wonder when the arrow as a graphic device for directions was invented? was it by one person? And at what date did it replace pointy fingers? I know that plenty of rail signs from this time do have skinny fletched arrows on them, but not the bold versions we know todaywormhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02802335627720182532noreply@blogger.com