This fantastically vibrant Franklyn's tobacco double-sided enamel flange sign promotes the company's 'fine shagg' (loose tobacco) which got its name from the finely cut strands appearing like 'shag' fabric. 

 

Supposedly the early 20th century was a more innocent era, where the word 'shag'/'shagg' could be displayed boldly without any misconstruing, however when the 'fine shagg' is described as 'always good to the end', you've really got to wonder just how innocent these advertisements were! 

 

This particular piece of enamel advertising probably dates to the 1920s and remains in fantastic order with vibrant colours and a wonderfully deep surface gloss (see the fifth photo where I've tried to show this) - the type only really found with the earlier enamel signage. As per the photographs there is some enamel loss / corrosion around the outer edges, but the main area of both faces remain in good order with just a little imperfection around the 'N' of Franklyn's on the inner face. 

 

The flange signs were designed so that the sign would protrude from a wall at 90 degrees and be visible from both directions. This sign retains it's flange in good, functioning order. Interestingly the writing is alinged to the outer edge, rather than centrally - the sign hasn't been trimmed down; the enamel thins at the outer edge as it would from manufacture and the (very) few other examples of this design I've encountered all do the same - it was a design feature, presumably to ensure that all of the writing was seen even when viewed at an angle... 

 

The sign measures 32.5cm wide x 23.5cm high and the flange is 3.5cm deep.

 

S/N: #0866