I must have taken this photograph of Horton Street in Halifax, and the fine spire of Square Church sometime in the mid to late 1960s. It was at a time when Halifax was still at the shabby end of the shabby-chic continuum. In order to advertise his credentials, the decorator who inhabited the upper parts of this corner building had done his best to add some colour to the scene. The shop part of the building seems to be dedicated to a window display of sacks of potatoes. The building is long gone, as distant a memory as the soot on the church spire: Halifax decorations of the past, both of them.
The decorator's sign could do justice to Gordon Cullen's plea for "The decoration of buildings by illustrative or written publicity. This may be ordered or fanciful, and either way creates an effect of intricacy of colour and form which can be delightful." (The Concise Townscape by Gordon Cullen)
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