Receipts From Old Whitechapel
June 19, 2026
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It is my delight to publish these old Whitechapel letterheads and receipts from Philip Mernick‘s astonishing ephemera collection. Many are remarkable for the beauty of their typographic design as well as revealing the wide range of industry and commerce.
Speigelhalters were in Whitechapel from 1928 until 1988
Gardiner’s Corner was a familiar landmark in East End for generations
This was the family business of the artist Nathaniel Kornbluth
All letterheads and receipts courtesy of Philip Mernick
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What a wonderfully diverse range of businesses, all absolutely necessary. and familiar, ‘back in the day”. A real step back in time.
This is very timely as I was looking through an old suitcase full of ephemera that I’d got from my family a decade ago. What to do with it all?
Interesting to see a receipt for Buck & Hickman, I remember buying tools from them during my working days. I believe they continued as an independant company right into this century and the brand is now traded under the name Rubix. I love little documents like these and am always fascinated to find an old receipt of my own from those far gone days when I was young. I had the habit of putting the nicer one’s inside books to be stumbled upon years later. I wonder how many, if any, remain to be found.
There is something very reassuring about the name Reliable Hosiery Ltd., especially if like me you tend to put a toe through your sock every so often.
As well as the typography and fancy letterheads I also really love phrases like “Your acknowledgment in due course will oblige” – so much better than the modern “let us know you have got this”!