Poor standard of retail signage

I snapped this photo this morning in my local tube station in London, Old Street Station. I call it "The poor standard of retail signage." Link

[#1 posted by xadrian , January 22, 2008 12:26 PM]

I wonder what the * is for, the rest of the clothes maybe?

[#2 posted by JeremyTolbert , January 22, 2008 12:31 PM]

That * is cracking me up.

[#3 posted by dave hutchinson , January 22, 2008 12:38 PM]

At least it says `some clothes,' rather than `some clothe's,' which would not be unusual.

[#4 posted by Cory Doctorow , January 22, 2008 12:44 PM]

s'ome clothe's!

[#5 posted by ClintonD , January 22, 2008 12:49 PM]

s'ome's clothes's's.

[#6 posted by RyanH , January 22, 2008 12:52 PM]

...
* Not actually clothes

[#7 posted by sjf , January 22, 2008 1:43 PM]

Am I the only one that doesn't find this surprising? Wow, Ireland and UK must really be third world countries.

[#8 posted by Brian Damage , January 22, 2008 1:58 PM]

Sorry, my crappy signage photo is superior (in every way but resolution).

demodulated - Splurge for the signage

[#9 posted by clockwork , January 22, 2008 3:04 PM]

i'm busting a gut! what a phunny sing! oh cory, when will your shenanigans STOP?!

[#10 posted by Wulf , January 22, 2008 4:57 PM]

This reminds me of another tube station sign seen on a visit to London in the 80's: "There will be no last train today." Are surreal statements delivered via sandwich-board signs a particularly British form of expression?

[#11 posted by gonz , January 22, 2008 6:32 PM]

Ah, old street station, such a lovely place.
The barrage of hand made signs for the phone unlockers always make me smile.

[#12 posted by ginneh , January 22, 2008 7:39 PM]

On a trip to London a few years ago, we spotted a sign for a wineshop in Notting Hill called Portobello Gold that advertised a variety of different wines, and absolutely NO monkeys.

[#13 posted by Squashy , January 22, 2008 7:59 PM]

Are handmade signs in front of thrift stores really that unusual? There wasn't even any spelling mistakes.

[#14 posted by Grimface , January 22, 2008 10:59 PM]

I remember seeing this sign on friday morning and thinking how crap it was. I especially like the failed attempt at careful spacing on the top line.

[#15 posted by minamisan , January 22, 2008 11:04 PM]

@squashy:

no, there wasn't. but there were a grammar error above :)

and on a different note: there's no need for that sign to explain the asterisk. everyone knows that * means "whatever this sign says is actually bollocks"

[#16 posted by Nix , January 23, 2008 2:26 PM]

At one point in 2001 (when I was passing through that station daily), the sandwich shop at the end of the row you show had a sign outside reading simply `FOOD'.

I asked, and yes, they sometimes do put up silly signs just to play with people's heads. :)