# 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:** 2
**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, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintessentially-british-objects/491860/21 "2009-04-03T18:05:56Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > I guess so. I mean the falling down one . . . 😉😛 That would be London Bridge, but the one the song refers to was demolished back in the 19th century. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintessentially-british-objects/491860/22 "2009-04-03T18:10:44Z")
Royal mail post box. Cup of tea. Silhouette of Queen Elizabeth in profile - such as found on postage stamps. Fish & chips Flat cap & pearly king waistcoat Nelsons Column Mini car (especially witha union jack painted on the roof) and mini skirt Oxford & Cambridge boat race FA cup (soccer trophy) HMS Victory ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintessentially-british-objects/491860/23 "2009-04-03T18:14:30Z")
Don’t know why, but umbrellas always seem quintessentially British to me. Or the hats that Andy Capp wears. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintessentially-british-objects/491860/24 "2009-04-03T18:14:53Z")
Deerstalker hat paired with a distinctive pipe? ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintessentially-british-objects/491860/25 "2009-04-03T18:16:55Z")
Civil Servants? Then go for Sir Humphrey Appleby, Bernard Woolley, and Jim Hacker! (From Yes, Minister). ---
**Author:** ![Damfino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintessentially-british-objects/491860/26 "2009-04-03T18:57:35Z")
A Guardsman, such as guard Buckingham Palace. A Spitfire. I second an umbrella, but it should be rolled up. The British Lion ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintessentially-british-objects/491860/27 "2009-04-03T21:20:31Z")
Sherlock Holmes’s silhouette? ---
**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, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintessentially-british-objects/491860/28 "2009-04-03T21:21:15Z")
> [@Rayne\_Man](#): > > That would be London Bridge, but the one the song refers to was demolished back in the 19th century. The song might refer to many things, but that isn’t one of them. [London Bridge Is Falling Down - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_bridge_is_falling_down#Meaning_and_origin) ---
**Author:** ![manx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@manx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manx)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintessentially-british-objects/491860/29 "2009-04-03T22:06:56Z")
I’m quite partial to Saint Paul’s, myself. If it’s ‘British’ you’re after, maybe some non-London things? The Forth Road Rail Bridge? Edinburgh Castle? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintessentially-british-objects/491860/30 "2009-04-03T22:09:21Z")
A toast rack, not sure how to represent it in silhouette but it’s the ‘britishist’ thing I can think of. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintessentially-british-objects/491860/31 "2009-04-03T22:21:03Z")
A woman lying on her back and thinking of England. ---
**Author:** ![Damfino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2009, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintessentially-british-objects/491860/32 "2009-04-04T13:12:48Z")
A Rolls-Royce logo / grille/ The Spirit of Ecstasy ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2009, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintessentially-british-objects/491860/33 "2009-04-04T13:32:48Z")
A Tube stop with “Mind The Gap” signs. Bangers and mash. The baggage retrieval system they’ve got at Heathrow (I’m so worried about it). Football hooligans. Rumpole with a glass of Chateau Thames Embankment. The Beatles. Twiggy in a miniskirt. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2009, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintessentially-british-objects/491860/34 "2009-04-04T14:29:11Z")
> [@Rayne\_Man](#): > > That would be London Bridge, but the one the song refers to was demolished back in the 19th century. And it doesn’t look like anything. It just looks like an ordinary bridge. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2009, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintessentially-british-objects/491860/35 "2009-04-04T15:08:10Z")
An old-fashioned teapot seems like the most obvious thing to do a silhouette of. There’s nothing else that it could be confused with, and there’s no other place on Earth as associated with that style of drinking tea. (Russians and tea-drinking Asians have their own customs.) Or if not that, how about a bobby helmet? Assuming the silhouette is black, you should be able to pull it off effectively. Putting a billy club nearby is optional. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2009, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintessentially-british-objects/491860/36 "2009-04-04T15:14:20Z")
A dowdy woman with an apron The Anarchy symbol A gentleman with a handlebar mustache, wearing a top hat, holding his cane in the air with a floating fish tied to it ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2009, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintessentially-british-objects/491860/37 "2009-04-04T15:49:19Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > A dowdy woman with an apron > > The Anarchy symbol > > A gentleman with a handlebar mustache, wearing a top hat, holding his cane in the air with a floating fish tied to it You forgot bad teeth. ---
**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 4, 2009, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintessentially-british-objects/491860/38 "2009-04-04T16:53:01Z")
> [@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. > [@GorillaMan](#): > > Plus Palace of Westminster, not Houses of Parliament! Well, if the ad campaign will be running _in_ the UK, that’s different. Clearly my muddled tourist memories aren’t relevant. If the campaign were running outside the UK, that’s the level of recognition you’d get from foreigners, so your symbols could be less precise. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2009, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintessentially-british-objects/491860/39 "2009-04-04T17:09:27Z")
A 14-year-old smoking a cigarette and pushing a pram. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2009, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintessentially-british-objects/491860/40 "2009-04-04T17:46:21Z")
A curry house between an off-licence and a Pizza Hut. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintessentially-british-objects/491860.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quintessentially-british-objects/491860.md?page=3)