Hand Painted, Early 20Th Century Car Garage Sign
Stock No
2478
2016
- £340.00
- €389 Euro
- $457 US Dollar
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Item Description
'Batteries and Accumulators Charged Here' ... This double-sided, hand painted sign is a fantastic piece of early, automotive history.
The sign probably dates to the late 1910s/early 1920s. With the earliest automobiles using hand crank engine starting and gas headlamps, engine ignition was provided directly by a magneto after starting and there was no need for a battery. By the late 1910s electric starter motors were starting to be introduced and with that came the need for a car battery to power them.
A rechargeable battery is a form of accumulator and in modern English we simply use the term 'battery'. Historically an 'accumulator' could be recharged where as a 'battery' would only be discharged. I imagine that this sign was originally produced right on the cusp of this changeover in terminology with the rechargeable car battery being referred to using both terms. On one side of this sign 'accumulators' has been painted out; presumably as 'battery' became the commonplace term used.
The sign is painted on thin metal (probably aluminium) sheet with it's original wooden framing. The lettering is competently sign-written though still with plenty of naive charm. It's aged beautifully with a lovely craquelure surface to the white letters that's accentuated by decades of garage dirt building up in the cracks. There are some areas of paint loss, surface scratching and light corrosion to the aluminium surface but all to be expected with a piece of this age.
It measures 55.5cm wide x 41cm high x 2.5cm deep
Item Info
Seller
Seller Location
London, London
Item Dimensions
H: 41cm W: 55.5cm D: 2.5cm
Period
1910s
Item Location
United Kingdom
Seller Location
London, London
Item Location
United Kingdom
Seller Contact No
+44 (0)7703104788
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