Card of the Day - 2026-03-12

Whitbread history Inn Signs London - 10
Whitbread & Co. Ltd [trade : brewing : UK] “The History of Whitbread Inn Signs” - London - series of ten (1973) 10/10 – WHI-120.5 : WHI-2.5

Here we have the "Jolly Cockney", at 49 Black Prince Road, London SE11. Oddly, for most of its life this public house was named the  "Jolly Gardeners"; it was only renamed, briefly, to "Jolly Cockney" in 1968,  and since then has gone back to its original title. As for the building itself, it was rebuilt in 1895, but there had been an inn here since the 1750s. And it has two claims to fame - one being that Charlie Chaplin`s father used to play the piano there - the other that Guy Ritchie used it to film part of "Snatch". I guess you show your age by whichever of these makes you the most excited.....

Our set first appears in the British Trade Index part III, along with three groups of 1950-1958 signs which had been discovered and/or produced after our second volume. Our group is described as 

  • The History of Whitbread Inn Signs. 76 x 50. Rounded corners, on board. Special albums issued, 1973-74. Eleven numbered series. 

    5. London (10)

However the "5" refers simply to the number in that list, it is not marked on the cards as series 5. And the "(10)" is the number in the set. 

This varies very slightly in our updated British Trade Index, though the listing of the set numbers, after, is the same : 

  • The History of Whitbread Inn Signs. 1973-74. 76 x 50. Rounded corners. Special albums issued, 1973-74.  Eleven series, all numbered.

    5. London (10) 

As for the ten cards in the set, they are : 

  1. The King`s Head and Eight Bells, Cheyne Walk SW3
  2. The Tournament, Old Brompton Road, SW5
  3. The Sherlock Holmes, Northumberland St., WC2
  4. The Crown Tavern, Albert Embankment, SE1
  5. The Duchy Arms, Sancroft Street, Lambeth
  6. The George Inn, Borough High Street, Southwark 
  7. The Nag`s Head, James St., WC2
  8. The Printer`s Devil, Fetter Lane, EC4
  9. The Gilbert & Sullivan, John Adam Street, WC2
  10. The Jolly Cockney, Black Prince Road, SE11

There is a bit of confusion though, as there is also another set of London Inn Signs on that list, item 6, and that contains fifteen cards. Until I did the list below, I was none the wiser why the London sets were split up, for I imagined that they were all different, but now they are listed here I can see it is, for the most part, the same cards, renumbered, with five few new ones, And they are : 

  1. The King`s Head and Eight Bells, Cheyne Walk SW3
  2. The Tournament, Old Brompton Road, SW5
  3. The Sherlock Holmes, Northumberland St., WC2
  4. The Crown Tavern, Albert Embankment, SE1
  5. NEW CARD - The Escape, Mabledon Place, WC1
  6. NEW CARD - The Pig & Whistle, Bramley Road, W10
  7. RENUMBERED - The Duchy Arms, Sancroft Street, Lambeth
  8. RENUMBERED - The George Inn, Borough High Street, Southwark 
  9. NEW CARD - The Lord Morrison of Lambeth, Wandsworth Road, SW8
  10. RENUMBERED - The Nag`s Head, James St., WC2
  11. RENUMBERED - The Printer`s Devil, Fetter Lane, EC4
  12. NEW CARD - The Finborough Arms, Finborough Road, SW10
  13. RENUMBERED - The Gilbert & Sullivan, John Adam Street, WC2
  14. RENUMBERED - The Jolly Cockney, Black Prince Road, SE11
  15. NEW CARD - The Pillar Box, Mount Pleasant, WC1