Deborah Lundbech's photos with the keyword: house signs

This is my father, with the only beard he ever grew, shaved off quickly when it came in grey. He and my brother are standing under our house sign "Wits' End", which was 23 Woodlands Avenue, Rayleigh Essex, England. Once in the first year of Junior School - second grade equivalent - my teacher at Love Lane School, Miss Brawn, on a whim, decided to go around the room and ask kids what their house was named. It was all "Dun Roamin' and "Dingle Derry" until it got to me. I had never really thought about it, but when i said "Wits' End " the whole class (and teacher) exploded with laughter. I was so mortified! Years later, I read that Alexander Woolcott, famous Algonquin "Round Table" wit, had a house in upper state New York named "Wits' End". But it didn't really matter. "Wits' End" for better and worse was absolutely what my family were about.