Receipts From London’s Oldest Ironmonger
February 11, 2026
As any accountant will tell you – you must always keep your receipts. It was a dictum adopted religiously by the staff at London oldest ironmongers R. M. Presland & Sons in the Hackney Rd from 1797-2013, where this cache of receipts from the eighteen-eighties and nineties was discovered. They may no longer be of interest to the tax man, but they serve to illustrate the utilitarian beauty of nineteenth-century typographic design and tell us a lot about the diverse interrelated trades which once filled this particular corner of the East End.
You may also like to read about
3 Responses
leave one →
A great snippet of history.
I have always loved ephemera for the unintended beauty of the snippets, and the inherent story-telling. As I perused these receipts ( smiling to see the “spike” holes in each one) I came across one of the documents issued by T. Dixon. Full stop. Surely the flourishing curvaceous letter forms here are better intended for love letters? Perhaps this person could have set themselves up in a little booth, making bales of off-the-books cash, inscribing billet doux for customers? I note the wildly- swirling cap letters, the “decorated” pound sign, the concluding swash under the “PAID” notation. Surely this is the handwriting of someone who longs to break out and inscribe declarations of love?
(or maybe I am just in a romantic lather, as Valentine’s Day approaches?)
As always, the beauty of the bill heads AND the inscriptions are glorious. Thank you, GA.
Adore these. Especially because the second one down is connected to my family. My GG grandfather was William Caston. The receipt has been signed by my G Grandfather Henry Caston. A great find for me. Very special so Thank you!