- Greater London House, Hampstead Road
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51.53349, -0.139523 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)
- Eastern side of the building.
- Number of black cats in the decor of the building
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12
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Historical background
Those who took part in last year’s Running City London might remember point #144 located near the finish — a vintage advertising sign depicting a black cat. This actually was an advertisement for Carreras Black Cat cigarettes, which were extremely popular in the first half of the 20th century thanks to an aggressive marketing campaign: cigarettes started to come with gifts in the pack such as short stories and coupons, and in 1913 salesmen were giving out money to those who could present a pack of Black Cat in their pocket. During the early 1920s enthusiasm for the Black Cat was at its peak, with many people wearing badges and stickers featuring the cat and even going to fancy dress parties in black cat costumes.
To meet the demand, the Carreras factory had to expand production several times. In 1928, production moved from a small factory on City Road to a building on Mornington Crescent in Camden. The architects designed the factory building in the style of Egyptian Art Deco: just six years before that, Howard Carter’s expedition had found the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, so the Egyptian style was wildly popular, and the huge bronze black cats in front of the building would not let people forget what brand of cigarettes they should keep buying. Influenced by the Hollywood movies of those years, the opening of the factory turned out to be quite an extravagant event: the pavement around the building was covered with sand during the opening ceremony, there was a procession of cast members from a contemporary London production of Verdi's opera Aida, and then a chariot race was held on the Hampstead Road.
Black cats in the decor of this building lasted until 1959, when the factory moved to a new building in Essex, and this building was converted into offices. Cats was removed from the building, with one being moved to the new factory, and the other — to Carreras factory in Jamaica.
In 1996, the building was sold once again, and the new owners decided to restore the architectural heritage. Copies of the original cat statues were installed in front of the entrance, and columns with lotus flowers decor came back. Now this building houses offices of many companies, including British Heart Foundation and Asos.
Present in routes of categories Lion, Lion-Mini, Atlas
Passed by: 43/48 (90%).
By categories:
- Atlas: 5/5 (100%)
- Lion: 32/37 (86%)
- Lion-Mini: 6/6 (100%)