Wednesday, September 09, 2020

A Sign Of The Times

 

BURDOCK WAY AND CLAREMOUNT, HALIFAX (c1990)

Los Angeles has its iconic HOLLYWOOD sign, and for many years, Halifax had its equally iconic CRAWFORD-SWIFT sign painted on the side of its factory up on the hill at Claremount and overlooking the town. It might not have been celebrated on postcards or t-shirts, but it was part of the culture of a town which was proud of its industrial mix: from carpets to toffees and from machine tools to mortgages. My photograph is a comparatively late one for me, only about thirty years old, but it shows Crawford Swifts framed by the voluptuous concrete curves of Burdock Way.

2 comments:

  1. I'm so glad you've explained about this photograph from 30 years ago, though I can't quite see the sign. I believe many industries and ads have been the hallmarks of towns through the years...and nobody thought to take a photo of them.

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  2. I worked in the drawing office of Swift before it became Crawford-Swift. The takeover didn't do much good because shortly after they put up the shutters. Fortunately, I was by then selling my sketches on the pavements of France.

    Swift exported lathes all over the world. There is one right here in Dominica.

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