London – City of London – Museum of London (Savoy Grill Sign)

This sign, now in the Museum of London, dates back to 1929 when it would have been a little exotic in its styling (there would have been light bulbs behind it to provide sufficient illumination), designed to appeal to American tourists to the hotel. I like that museums keep quirky things like this, it reminds me of the Neon Museum in Las Vegas (I accept they have more than one sign though).

The name of the bar at the Savoy, the American Bar, was also evidence of who it was trying to target, namely those wealthy American visitors to London. The bar, which was most decadent, was one of the first in the city to produce a cocktail menu and this was seen as most sophisticated. The museum notes that the grill restaurant would have served “terrapin, clams and oysters imported directly from the US”. I’m not sure about the terrapin….