Ladies Should Visit!

[AndyHall]

From the National Library of Ireland:

The S.S. Great Eastern as gargantuan advertising billboard at North Wall, Dublin...

Thanks to all for great research on this one, and to nintytwo for helping us uncover that this was taken at the North Wall in Dublin, and that our catalogue was incorrect in saying this had been taken at Arklow, Co. Wicklow. Date: Between 15 October 1886 and 3 April 1887​

Great Eastern was the first ship built that exceeded the biblical dimensions of Noah's Ark.

 

[Nathanb1]

Visit the what?

 

[John Winn]

Visit the what?

Really ! Just noticed that they don't say what, exactly. Maybe they just ran out of space because they didn't plan ahead with their lettering. They did start out with really big letters and then pared it down. That's a hoot.

 

[Bonny Blue Flag]

Nate, I enlarged the photo. Left of the "Ladies should visit" sign, on the bow of the ship, may be the name of the store in large letters on the top line, then it may be the store's street address and city.

Just a gues.

--BBF

 

[AndyHall]

It originally said,

LADIES SHOULD VISIT LEWIS'S BON MARCHE CHURCH STREET​

You can just make out LEWIS aft of the paddlewheel. Bon Marche was a department store with locations in Liverpool, Sheffield, and Manchester. It finally closed in 2010.

 

[Nathanb1]

Aha! I know Bon Marche! Now it makes sense!

 

[FarawayFriend]

In any case it's what we in Germany call a "Hingucker", it draws a lot of attention and if you have to make efforts to decipher what the ladies should do, you won't ever forget the name of the shop again. Pretty smart!

 

[LoyaltyOfDogs]

In any case it's what we in Germany call a "Hingucker", it draws a lot of attention and if you have to make efforts to decipher what the ladies should do, you won't ever forget the name of the shop again. Pretty smart!

Interesting! Does anyone know if we have an English word for this? Nothing comes to mind . . .

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

Humdinger? Is that a PA Dutch term anyway, or something else? An awful lot of words originated from German immigrants- the ' dinger' part sounds like it could have morphed over the years.

Super photo, thank you! Know what the aging didtz take on " Ladies Should Visit " was, first impression? I'd have stopped looking, was perfectly willing to accept we were all supposed to come tromp on in, go look at the ship. And ok, woulda. Looks like a nice sort of place.

 

[LoyaltyOfDogs]

"Humdinger" would seem to fit--I'm imagining a puzzled hmmmmm followed by the little bell that rings when we finally get it! And its meaning, an extraordinary example, would seem to fit, too, if we consider that an advertisement would have to be outstanding to grab our attention and make us think, as Faraway Friend said a "Hingucker" would do. I agree, "humdinger" sounds like a PA Dutch word, but several dictionaries say its origins are unknown or they identify it as an American term and trace its use to the early 20th century.