5/27/2023 0 Comments English inn signs by Jacob LarwoodKeywords: Inn signs, tavern, drinking culture, consumer revolution, advertising, early modern. From identification and navigation to advertising and politics, inn signs deserve to be given the same prominence in early modern historical inquiry as they were in the early modern world. The paper considers three main areas: firstly, the functions of inn signs and their role in forming the identity of the public house secondly, how inn signs were moulded by and reflected the complex changes in society, culture and politics and can thus provide us with an insight into how early modern people interacted with the world around them and finally, inn signs as a form of proto-advertising in the light of the changes in consumption and competition in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This paper argues that they form more than simple historical curiosities and that they can give us valuable insight into early modern mentalities, geographies and commercial spaces. Inn signs, a familiar sight in our towns and cities, have been surprisingly overlooked by historical inquiry. Catherine Dent, Department of History, University of Warwick
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