Commercial Overprint Society of Great Britain
Vol. 2 No. 11; May 1, 2005
Harrods
by Michael Behm
Harrods—the world's most famous department store, and London's third most-visited tourist attraction. The building's exterior has 11,500 lightbulbs; its interior had the first escalator in Britain. And the building is magnificent:
More incredible than the store we see today is its origins: it began as a small shop in Knightsbridge, opened in 1849 by Charles Harrod. Knightsbridge was becoming trendy, and Harrod was in the right place to cater to Britain's very rich. His success was founded upon his willingness to find the unusual and the incredible for his patrons. The store grew with the business, taking over adjacent properties until it took over the entire block—becoming in 1902 the largest store in London.
When I visited there a few years ago, I was amazed. For example, you could buy a bagel with smoked salmon for more than £20; a price that is so extravagant that I'll spell it out: more than twenty pounds. Elsewhere in the store, there was a Jaguar XKE for only £7,000—in the toy department. Yes, there was a powered toy car, sized to fit a child, for seven thousand pounds. But I must admit the £14,000 flat-panel TV also caught my eye.
The real appeal of Harrods—for me—is that it is possibly the second-largest producer of non-governmental commercial overprints in the UK, after the Prudential Life Assurance Company.
| To judge from my collection, Harrods began using commercial overprints around 1920. Prior to this, they appear to have used hand-stamps: |  |
It can be difficult to sort Harrods commercial overprints. The chart that follows shows the varieties that I have seen; the significant characteristic is in bold.
| Pattern | Description | Known Issues (SG#) |
|---|---|---|
| HARRODS LIMITED |
Horizontal, large font, sans-serif, all-caps | 442a, 465a |
| Horizontal, medium font, sans-serif, all-caps | 465a, 488a | |
| HARRODS Limited | Horizontal, medium font, sans-serif, small-caps | 421, 465, 488, 506, 518, 543, 543b, 573 |
| HARRODS LIMITED | Vertical, medium font, sans-serif, all-caps | 488, 506, 518, 543, 543b, 573, 727 |
| Pattern | Description | Known Issues (SG#) |
|---|---|---|
| HARRODS Limited. | Horizontal, medium font, sans-serif, small-caps | 357, 370, 421, 442, 442a, 465a |
| HARRODS LIMITED. | Horizontal, medium font, serif, all-caps | 488a |
