Bus roll envy
Wed, 6 Aug 2008
One of my favourite things is a vintage bus roll. Love them! Have several. I used to find them in flea markets in the old days but now it's eBay. It looks like I have competition. Jennifer from Atlanta emailed. "I fell in love with the destination rolls and got one on eBay from London!!! I put stretcher bars together for my frame and stapled fabric to the sides. Then I used upholstery nails to tack the sign to the frame. I thought you'd like to see the finished product!!!" The upholstery nails are brilliant. If you've tried to stretch one of these babies you'll know there is not much spare fabric on the sides. I am so jealous of your roll Jennifer. Great destinations and fabulous job! (And from what I can see of your house, it's fabulous too!)
Reader Comments (18)
Love that idea.
oh my: Tyne Dock, Simonside, Chichester, i am sure that bus roll is from where I live - newcastle upon tyne in the UK! how crazy that it travelled to London and then ended up in atlanta :)
LOVE vintage bus rolls! I've been trying to track some down for a while now. I also have a post coming up about them too...her photos are great.
Dammit - now I want one!!!
such a cool idea. now i want one :)
hmmm I MAY just have to try this! The real ones are a bit pricey! good post.
just love it. History really did some good work!
This is unreal - I live in the very town where that bus roll is from! It's called South Shields and I'm now jealous as it would make a great addition to the vintage South Shields poster I have currently: http://www.twmuseums.org.uk/shop.php/posters-all/south-shields-railway-poster/
Nice use of the roll by the way!
OH MY GOD!
YOU ARE MY LEGEND!
I've seen this in stacks of movies, but I never knew what they were called.
And I asked EVERYONEEEEE if they knew what it was or where I can ge tthem from.
Where can you get them from?
I'm totally desperate.
Pearl.
Pearl, your best bet is eBay or Etsy.
Just bought one the other day.....not sure if I got a good price or not...I paid $600? any idea if that is outragious or not?
I don't know much about the going rate for bus roll paraphenalia, but I'm thinking $600 is kinda pricey. Might be due to the growing popularity though. I'd rather just get a big canvas, paint it black, and stick some white lettering on it - DIY ALL THE WAY!
Depends on how long and the destinations anonymous but I'd say that is about right and might even be a bargain if quite old and fabric with cool stops. Even 1.8m reproductions here in Australia are selling for around $800 (see Print Dolls). Gone are the days where you could pick up a 10m roll for $15 like I used too :(
LOVE THESE.
I saw them in a couple of movies and ever since then they've haunted my mind because I never knew what they were called!!!!!!!!!!
I want to make one because I don't want to spend so much money on one. Do you know any websites or places where I could get the text or addresses to put on?
Thank you
Pearl
Hi,
We are currently working on a reproduction canvas version of these which will be on our site for sale early December 09.
You will also have the option to have your own text printed if desired.
They will be very close to the original as we have gained a licence to use the font which is closely guarded under copyright.
Regards,
Michael.
www.britishbusblinds.com
British Bus Blinds
Got a very cool London blind direct from them in England. Even after import to the USA I still saved almost 40 % for what they are are for sale for here. Friendly, helpful service, website says they ship worldwide. All are custom-made to order, nice thick borders & frames, I looked at others - go direct. Two more on order, can't wait.
I have started making reproductions of these and are available in my etsy shop http://mercantilemill.etsy.com
I can supply very long original London bus rolls suitable for use as wallpaper or for framing as you are doing. Happy to ship anywhere!