Old Tavern Signs: An Excursion in the History of Hospitality

Endell, Fritz August Gottfried, 1873-1955Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.5
Word count
285K words
Chapters
29

Tags

English Originals History and Culture Historical EvolutionSign ArtTravelogueSocial CustomsDecorative GraphicsIllustrated GuideCultural ChangeEuropean StreetsFolk CustomsTavern Culture

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Old Tavern Signs: An Excursion in the History of Hospitality by EndellAuthor: Endell, Fritz August Gottfried, 1873-1955,Language: English, Class: GT: Geography, Anthropology, Recreation: Manners and customs, Release Date: Jan 18, 2013

Editor's review

This book is a thematic essay by the German art historian Fritz August Gottfried Endell (1873–1955) on old tavern signs, written in English and released free of charge by Project Gutenberg as a public-domain e-book. The subtitle, "An Excursion in the History of Hospitality," indicates its approach: not a systematic institutional history, but an exploration centered on a single object—the sign—that traces changes in European innkeeping, road travel, and customs of hospitality. A sign is at once a commercial marker and a vehicle of images, words, and popular taste; the author begins with form, motif, and naming to sketch the human warmth and spatial character of travel in earlier times. For readers studying the history of daily life, material culture, commercial advertising, or European travel, this is a light but meaningful primary source; for general readers it is more like a cultural essay collection to dip into at leisure. Note that the book was written early, its narrative carries the tastes and judgments of the author's era, and its materials are mainly European—it should not be taken as a global history of hospitality.

Who it's for

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Reading tips

  1. Begin with the introduction or first chapter to grasp how the author defines the relationship between signs and the history of hospitality, then select later chapters by theme.
  2. Take notes on the motifs and naming types of signs as you read, and compile a small list of image–text materials.
  3. Read alongside a general history of European travel or innkeeping to compensate for the book's non-systematic narrative.
  4. Treat the book as an essay collection and read one or two chapters at a time to avoid the sense of repetition that comes from reading straight through.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29

FAQ

Is this book a systematic history of hospitality? No. Judging from the subtitle and the author's approach, it is an essayistic inquiry that takes old tavern signs as its entry point, organized around a specific object rather than laid out systematically by period or institution. It is better read as thematic material and cultural essay than as a general textbook.
What background knowledge is needed to read this book? The book is written in English, so general English reading ability is required. For historical background, some familiarity with early modern European innkeeping and road travel helps, but the author writes in an essayistic style and the threshold is low. If you are familiar with the study of images and commercial signage, you will appreciate the material's value more easily.
Is the book's scope limited to Europe? Given the author's background and the tavern-sign tradition indicated by the title, the materials come mainly from Europe, especially the sign cultures of German-speaking areas and Britain. It is not a comparative global history of hospitality, and readers should not expect systematic discussion of sign traditions in Asia or elsewhere.
Is this book suitable to cite as research material? It can be used as an early thematic essay and as a lead for research, but note that it was written early, its narrative carries the tastes and judgments of its era, and it is not a systematic treatise. When citing, verify specific page numbers and sources, compare with contemporary scholarship, and do not treat it as the latest or authoritative survey in the field.

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About the author

Endell, Fritz August Gottfried, 1873-1955 Author · German · 1873–1955

Fritz August Gottfried Endell (1873–1955) was a German architect and writer. Public information about his life is limited, and what can be confirmed mainly concerns his professional identity and a small number of writings. He practiced architecture and was also interested in the history of art and architecture, turning these subjects into books for general readers. His representative work, Old Tavern Signs: An Excursion in the History of Hospitality, uses old inn signs as a starting point for examining the history of hospitality and travel culture. In his writing he often began with everyday objects and architectural details, turning professional observation into accessible narrative that combines information with readability. His work offers an early textual reference for the study of European sign art, folk decoration and hospitality culture, and retains historical value today.