THE ART OF THE LETTER HEAD

by Tom Kenny

Our illustration today is of the letterhead of J.J. Ward who owned The Motor and Cycle House on Eyre Square. This building is shown on the left of our illustration. It was originally occupied by Gilbeys and was next door to what is the Imperial Hotel today. James Ward set up in business here in 1903 and invited the public to ‘inspect the largest stock, the best chosen variety and the best value in Connaught in Cycles and Accessories’. In 1909 he wrote “In my repair shop, I have the same group of hands working who have worked under me for 6 years – they know their work and do it well. I’ll give you a cycle for £7. 7s as good as you can get elsewhere for a much higher price. In fact it is worth £9. 9s.”.

The first outdoor petrol pumps in Galway were situated in front of this building, but they were not the first such pumps in Galway. They were installed in a new building on the corner of Rosemary Avenue (where Dunne’s Stores is today) which Wards moved into c.1918. This building was originally called ‘Rosemary Lodge’, presumably the same Rosemary after whom the avenue was named. The pumps here were actually installed inside the building which Ward called ‘Motor House’. “Motoring is a more or less expensive pastime but your motoring will cost you considerably less if you buy your car in the right place, and get it repaired when it needs it in the right place”.

The first mechanic to work in this new garage was Jim Bowen from Mary Street. His mate was a Mr. Flanagan who later became the first mechanic in the Galway Bus Depot. Jim Furey from Gurraun near Oranmore, started working in Ward’s bicycle shop when he was about 14 years old. He graduated to the Motor House working as a mechanic. Wards used to service the British Army trucks and one day, Jim did as much damage as he could to some Crossley Tenders used by the Black and Tans. He had to go on the run then and eventually joined the Castlegar Company of the IRA. In later years, Tony Kavanagh was the main mechanic in Wards, they eventually had a car showroom on Rosemary Avenue which is also now occupied by Dunne’s Stores.  

In these days, when virtually all of your post comes through e-mail and all looks the same, it is refreshing to see an ornate decorative letterhead of this artistic quality which certainly marks the business out as different and classy. The first thing one did in designing something like this was to make the building appear a little more impressive than it actually was, note that here Wards is taller than the adjoining business’.  It is framed in an elegant cartouche with some attractive swirls and curves and some interesting letter fonts. It is a very subtle form of advertising in itself. It was dated 1913.