Oil Jars: The Overlooked Historic Shop Sign

You’re probably familiar with the idea of historic shops signs. Three golden balls indicate a pawnbroker while a red, white and blue pole lets you know there’s a barber shop up ahead. Three Golden Balls outside a Pawnbroker on Fleet Street Far rarer today are oil jars, large stone pots affixed directly on the side of buildings. Once a common sight all over London, they used to indicate general stores or ironmongers where oil was sold. The jars themselves hint at something far older, ancient storage vessels known as ‘amphora’ which the Romans used to transport olive oil across their empire. In fact a fragment of a huge amphora was found in the Thames and is now in London Museum. The use of oil jars as shop signs is much more recent, first mentioned in the 17th century. In 1947 Sir Ambrose Heal published The Signboards of Old London Shops which include around 20 oilmen shops, many using oil jars to advertise their trade. The Signboards of Old London Shops from the Internet Archive…