Tag: pub memorabilia

1948 Olympic Torch for Sale at Auction

The 1948 London Olympic Torch offered on 13th July in Toovey's Auction

A topical item has been consigned for auction at Toovey’s Sale of Collectors’ Items on Friday 13th July 2012.

The torch is Lot 2601 and is described as a London Olympics 1948 aluminium relay torch, the bowl pierced with the trademark symbol of interlinking rings and inscribed ‘XIVth Olympiad 1948, Olympia to London, with thanks to the bearer’.

The 41cm high torch was designed by Ralph Lavers, specifically to house the tablet-form fuel that it would contain. It is documented that 1720 of these torches were produced for the relay from Greece to England, allowing enough for those to be used for demonstrations, trials and spares.

This particular torch was given to the current vendor by a relative who was employed at management level by H.M.V. at their Hayes factory. To add to this provenance, H.M.V.’s parent company, E.M.I., produced the torch at their Hayes factory. Presumably, this was an ex-demonstration or trial model.  For some fourteen years the torch hung above the bar of The White Horse public house in Graffham near Petworth, West Sussex.  At some stage the torch has been converted to a wall light, having a drill hole to the stem and a bulb attachment to the interior.  This has been reflected in the £1000-2000 pre-sale estimate. Whether this modification will actually affect the final selling price will only become clear on July 13th at Toovey’s Spring Gardens auction house.

Last Orders at the Bar…

Toovey’s February sale of Collectors’ Items on Friday afternoon 24th February 2012 includes the majority of the decorative contents of the celebrated public house The Montague Arms, 289 Queens Road, New Cross, London SE15 (Lots 2601 to 2662).

The last pint has now been pulled at The Montague Arms but for over forty years it garnered a reputation for idiosyncrasy, which attracted troops of fascinated and sometimes bewildered visitors from all over the world. Run by landlord Peter Hoyle from 1967 until its recent closure, it offered the traditional pub welcome and atmosphere of a bygone era, juxtaposed with unconventional live music, cabaret and themed events, in a somewhat surreal interior, crammed with curiosities. Voted number one by The Rough Pub Guide, A Celebration Of The Great British Boozer (Orion Books 2008) and hailed as “one of our strangest, and best, boozers” by The Sun newspaper, The Montague Arms was famed for its eccentric décor. An eclectic mixture of nautical items, curios, copper and brassware, ethnic memorabilia and taxidermy, the collection includes numerous ships’ fittings, large-scale models of ships, a vintage diving helmet and boots, a penny-farthing bicycle, tribal artefacts and a range of stuffed animals’ heads, including that of a zebra, which used to gaze out from one of two horse-drawn carriages permanently installed in the pub.  The collection will be offered for auction at Toovey’s Spring Gardens saleroom.

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