# Quintessentially British objects **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 3, 2009, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintessentially-british-objects/491860 "2009-04-03T14:55:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintessentially-british-objects/491860/1 "2009-04-03T14:55:03Z")
Hello all, I’m a designer producing a campaign with a ‘british’ theme. Can’t go into too many details, except to say it’s targeted at civil servants and this company wants to trumpet the good things they do for the country. The visual theme relies on reproducing outlines/silhouettes of things which are readily associated with Britain - so the objects need a distinctive shape. Obvious ones so far are \> an outline of the UK map \> a tea pot or tea cup and saucer \> a skyline of somewhere distinctive (Big Ben, Stonehenge etc). So, Dopers, what objects do you readily associate with Britain? And most importantly, would you recognise them easily as a silhouette? I should probably avoid well known commercial brands, eg a jar of Marmite, or anything with a negative connotation, e.g. a pint of lager. Give me your best shot! Thanking you in advance. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintessentially-british-objects/491860/2 "2009-04-03T14:58:55Z")
Those phone booths are pretty distinctive. But yeah, also, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, Tower Bridge, a tea pot and cup, a Beefeater at the gate to Buckingham palace, a Routemaster bus, etc ---
**Author:** ![Litoris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9f8e36/32.png) [@Litoris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Litoris)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintessentially-british-objects/491860/3 "2009-04-03T15:10:17Z")
The double decker bus is also pretty much a British thing in my eyes. Thinking silhouettes, I’d have to say a guy in a top hat with a cane, out-dated though it may be would peg British for me, too. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintessentially-british-objects/491860/4 "2009-04-03T15:18:21Z")
The Tardis. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintessentially-british-objects/491860/5 "2009-04-03T15:32:52Z")
Does a cricket bat make for a good silhouette? ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintessentially-british-objects/491860/6 "2009-04-03T15:41:19Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Those phone booths are pretty distinctive. > But yeah, also, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, Tower Bridge, a tea pot and cup, a Beefeater at the gate to Buckingham palace, a Routemaster bus, etc You won’t see a Beefeater at Buckingham Palace, only at the Tower Of London and, to be even more pedantic, Big Ben is the name of the bell, not the clock-tower. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintessentially-british-objects/491860/7 "2009-04-03T15:46:36Z")
> [@Rayne\_Man](#): > > You won’t see a Beefeater at Buckingham Palace, only at the Tower Of London and, to be even more pedantic, Big Ben is the name of the bell, not the clock-tower. Plus Palace of Westminster, not Houses of Parliament! ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintessentially-british-objects/491860/8 "2009-04-03T15:49:07Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > Plus Palace of Westminster, not Houses of Parliament! Well luckily the silhouettes won’t be labeled, so no nitpickers need get their knickers in twist over the campaign. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintessentially-british-objects/491860/9 "2009-04-03T15:50:36Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Does a cricket bat make for a good silhouette? Sure does, thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintessentially-british-objects/491860/10 "2009-04-03T16:25:58Z")
Is it a campaign to run _in_ the UK, or elsewhere? Because the if it’s the former, I imagine the universe of plausible items would be quite a bit larger. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintessentially-british-objects/491860/11 "2009-04-03T16:37:24Z")
A black taxi, a pint of bitters (in that special pub glass with the wide area near the rim), a bulldog, Churchill with a cigar, Queen Victoria in full regalia, the Nelson column in Trafalgar Square, the greenhouse at Kew Gardens, and Arthur Gumby. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintessentially-british-objects/491860/12 "2009-04-03T16:40:04Z")
Bowler hat. Steam train. Nobody uses them nowadays, but stereotypes linger… ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintessentially-british-objects/491860/13 "2009-04-03T16:42:48Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Is it a campaign to run _in_ the UK, or elsewhere? Because the if it’s the former, I imagine the universe of plausible items would be quite a bit larger. It’s running ‘in’ the UK, but the silhouettes will be quite rough/simple, so the shape needs to be obvious. And it needs to scream ‘iconic british’ for the campaign to work. And we can’t rely on the ‘intelligence’ of the civil servants to have to work too hard to get it 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintessentially-british-objects/491860/14 "2009-04-03T16:45:30Z")
John Cleese in full “Silly walk” mode, leaning back slightly with one foot raised high in front of him. . . [giggle] Or the infamous “Stomping Foot” from MP London Bridge Cricketer at bat Polo player I’d also say that I don’t think of Stonehenge as British. It just happens to be on their land. . . ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintessentially-british-objects/491860/15 "2009-04-03T16:46:13Z")
I’m tempted to think that Basil Fawlty goose-stepping would make a particularly recognisable silhouette… ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintessentially-british-objects/491860/16 "2009-04-03T16:49:06Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > A black taxi, a pint of bitters (in that special pub glass with the wide area near the rim), a bulldog, Churchill with a cigar, Queen Victoria in full regalia, the Nelson column in Trafalgar Square, the greenhouse at Kew Gardens, and Arthur Gumby. I don’t think a pint of bitters (as in Angastoria) would be very palatable. I think you must mean a pint of bitter. And it’s Nelson\*'s\* Column. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintessentially-british-objects/491860/17 "2009-04-03T16:53:29Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > London Bridge I think you mean Tower Bridge. Gah! You lot have got me at it now! ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintessentially-british-objects/491860/18 "2009-04-03T17:31:01Z")
The pound symbol, a crown, an English Bobby and maybe Shakespeare. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintessentially-british-objects/491860/19 "2009-04-03T17:41:20Z")
I was going to say either Tower Bridge or a double-decker bus, but both of those have been mentioned already so I’ll just second them. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintessentially-british-objects/491860/20 "2009-04-03T17:50:28Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > I think you mean Tower Bridge. > > Gah! You lot have got me at it now! I guess so. I mean the falling down one . . . 😉😛 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintessentially-british-objects/491860.md?page=2)