Dog biscuits are a pretty cute subject matter, but puppy biscuits are much cuter! James Spratt was an American entrepreneur and his company Spratt's was the first 'large-scale manufacturer of dog biscuits'. One of Spratt's marketing techniques was to create variants of their biscuits aimed at different breeds and different 'life stages' of dogs.

 

This sign dates to around the 1920s and, like many of Spratt's early advertising signs, has beautiful shading and shadowing around the typography. Spratt's produced their own signage and this is marked as such in the lower left with a production number in the lower right.

 

Given it's age this sign remains in fairly good condition, though it has notable damage along the bottom edge as well as a crease and subsequent enamel loss running through the S on the left side and patches of enamel loss scattered along the rest of the sign. At some point the wall this sign was hung on was re-painted by a lazy decorator and there's some magnolia(?) over paint around the outer edges. Generally the sign retains a good gloss and a rich red background. It has been mounted to a basic wooden frame to aid rigidity and ease hanging, though it could be removed from this and mounted directly to the wall using it's original mounting holes. 

 

The sign measures 102cm wide x 38cm high x 2.5cm deep with wood backing.

 

 

S/N: #1146