Living: England team shirt, designed by Umbro

and tailored by Charlie Allen. Taking inspiration 

from England football shirts 1872-present. 

Via the loutish yobs at Jacket Mechanical.

Extinct: Aertex. Created by accident in 1888, this 

 breathable "cellular" cotton was part of every school

sports kit for 100 years. Available at Old Town.

Living: The stork, whose return in Spring gives 

cause to celebrate, possibly with alcohol, followed 

by a preponderance of babies 9 months later.

Living: Heinz Baked Beans. 

Born in America, first sold in the 

UK by Fortnum & Mason in 1886.

Living: Mr and Mrs Andrews by Thos. Gainsborough, 

c. 1748-9. View this ancient and thoroughly modern 

painting in detail via The National Gallery.

Extinct: The Ministry of Food.

"Now dear, NEVER put so much water in the cabbage again. 

It makes it soggy and tasteless."

Living: Mocha ware. Another British icon which 

takes its name from an Arab city, this early form of 

restaurant ware was glazed with a combination of 

tobacco juice and a dash of urine. Occasionally revived.

Living: Gingham, from genggang, a Malayan 

striped fabric. More stripes (at right angles)

were added in Manchester mid-18th century.

Living: Foxes and Hound.

Screen print by Patrick Thomas.

Thriving: Frank Hall. "We are an ancient industry."

A dispatch from our Middle England correspondent:

"Found myself in Frank Hall, royal purveyors of hunting 

gear a couple of weeks ago. Terribly nice people who 

invited me in to snoop around. The proprietor said he used 

to go to the States twice a year ('to Pennsylvania') but 

is just too busy. That says something about the 

hunting ban and the recession."

Photographs by Kendra Wilson.

Living: The mini monogram, once 

necessary for identifying laundry in 

large households, still relevant today.

The Day Nursery

The Servants' Bathroom

The Gentlemen's Cloakroom

Living: "Downstairs" at Wightwick Manor, 

Photographs from the National Trust Photo Library.

Plaster pricked and painted by William Morris 

and Philip Webb at Red House, 1859-65.

Daisy wallpaper, 1864, inspired by a 

late Medieval illuminated manuscript

Living: William Morris, 1834-1896. 

A Medievalist, he revived traditional craftsmanship 

lost in Britain after the Industrial Revolution.

Living: V & A Museum, Prints and Books, one 

of the great collections for graphic and fine art. 

Sketches made by Beatrix Potter, at Fawe Park.

Gypsy, flock and pigment print

Fez, woven

Hedgehog, pigment print

Living: Neisha Crosland,  est 1994. 

Historical sources, contemporary vision.

Living: The polka dot. Inspired by nature 

and embraced by fashion at the height of 

the polka dance craze (late 19th century). 

Living: Old message, re-interpreted.

Poster by Chris Silas Neal for ReadyMade.

Extinguished: The English Sunrise, an art deco 

symbol which rose out of the Victorian era and set at 

the end of the 1960s. Photographs by Tony Evans.

Illustration by Lois Wain

Cheshire Cat illustrated by John Tenniel

Tom Kitten by Beatrix Potter

Living: Tabby, marked by an M on 

the forehead, the name comes from the Attabiyah 

section of Baghdad, which produced a striped silk. 

Wanui Station

Hummock Station

Glendene Station

Living: John Smedley, family owned 

Derbyshire mill since 1784, fair trade wool 

from New Zealand. Discover its origin.

Living: The olive tree gates of Menorca.

Undoubtedly ancient, most assuredly industrious.

1987

1968

1984

Living: Modern calligraphy, revived in 

the 20th century by Edward Johnston.

Calligraphy by Michael Renton (d. 2001)

Living: Johnston, the first "modern" font. Designed 

for London Underground by Edward Johnston, 

assisted by his former student, Eric Gill, 1916.