shared from James Eccleston https://www.facebook.com/groups/337603693753128/user/100003053335333/
James Eccleston… Hello everyone I was putting a new fence up in the garden and while digging I discovered this old enamelled sign in the ground! It’s for the queens hotel Hastings and I believe it was made in the 1800s so I was just wondering if anyone could help me out and find a picture of the sign on the building before it was removed and ending up buried in my garden I’ve try to find pics but I’ve been unsuccessful. I hope this is a interesting discovery for everyone
Lloyd Johnson… This should be in Hastings Museum…
Mike Mitchell… Not sure it’s going to be 1800s – no cars or phones that early
Leigh Mitchell… Oh wow! What a great find!
Doc Racer… Found this on the Historic Hastings website. Wonder if this is it, the dates seem right
Chris Meachen… It was most likely originally mounted on the walls of the railway station, where many such advertisements were displayed. I dug up a huge one for ‘Nestles milk’ in my own garden. It was common practice for people to take such signs home when they became redundant & use them in gardens and allotments for raised beds or compost heaps, as the enamel coating resisted rust.
Andy Qunta… Fabulous!
Mike Vawdrey… I do not have local knowledge but based on the general style and three digit phone number I would make an educated guessstimate at the period soon after the Great War – early 1920 s maybe ? ?
Peter Ellingworth… A clue is the ‘phone number – 201- on the bottom right hand of the sign. There is a section on the ‘Historical Hastings’ site which I can’t seem to access at the moment, of the development of ‘phone numbers in Hastings.
I did, however, read that Hastings became fully automated in 1974, with the now familiar 42 prefixed to numbers. I have a copy of the Hastings Tramways t/bus timetable of 1954-5, and the Silverhill office enquiry number then still used two figures (HASTINGS 90 ) while the White Rock office is listed as HASTINGS 2310. I think it depended on the locality, and even within the locality, when the change over from two to three and then four figures was made prior to STD. I would guess the sign dates from pre, or immediate post WW2. Hastings Museum should be able to narrow it down more.
Mike Mitchell…we still had a three digit phone number in Ore in the mid-60s: Hastings 404 which was changed to 1221 later in the 60s. Why do I still remember all this stuff?
I do not have local knowledge but based on the general style and three digit phone number I would make an educated guessstimate at the period soon after the Great War – early 1920 s maybe ? ?
A clue is the ‘phone number – 201- on the bottom right hand of the sign.
There is a section on the ‘Historical Hastings’ site which I can’t seem to access at the moment, of the development of ‘phone numbers in Hastings.
I did, however, read that Hastings became fully automated in 1974, with the now familiar 42 prefixed to numbers.
I have a copy of the Hastings Tramways t/bus timetable of 1954-5, and the Silverhill office enquiry number then still used two figures (HASTINGS 90 ) while the White Rock office is listed as HASTINGS 2310.
I think it depended on the locality, and even within the locality, when the change over from two to three and then four figures was made prior to STD .
I would guess the sign dates from pre, or immediate post WW2.
Hastings Museum should be able to narrow it down more.