In the early 20th century the fast growing city of Birmingham developed a new standard design for it's street name plates. The design was similar to the octagonal signs of before though was more elaborate with fleur-de-lis at each end. The typeface used was Baskerville Print which had been designed by Birmingham printer John Baskerville.
The signs were used throughout the city and can be seen in many places with pre-Second World War housing. The oldest signs just had the street or road name on them though some later signs also included the postcode after Birmingham introduced them in the 1930s.
An interesting variation on the signs is with abbreviations. Words like "road" and "street" are shortened on some signs though written in full on others even though there is little actual difference in the length of the sign! Even how the abbreviation was made could vary. Signs were either wall mounted or in many cases mounted on an elaborate metal stand as shown below.
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| Tyburn Road, Erdington |
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| Orphanage Road, Erdington showing the postcode |
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| Hinckley Street in the city centre |
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| Chantry Road, Moseley |
