Ever wondered why we are called The Tuppenny? If so, you are not alone, as way back in 2012, as soon as word of our impending launch was out, people started discussing the name of the bar, with many amusing connections being made, all of which were wrong but did make us smile (and also gave us a name for our piano, The Tuppenny Upright)!
So for those of you wondering what was behind the choice of the name The Tuppenny, read on…
It all started with some gin, as so many good stories do (or should do) and a small amount of historical knowledge and research. In Victorian England, there were essentially two types of gin to choose from, penny gin, and tuppenny gin. Penny gin was cheap, in plentiful supply, and pretty awful. This was the rough old bathtub concoctions that became nicknamed “mother’s ruin”.
Tuppenny gin was a much more refined, premium product. The tuppenny prefix consequently found itself attached to many products that had a two, or more, tiered pricing structure to reflect the quality of the product. The tuppenny stuff was always top drawer, the good stuff. And so the term “Tuppenny” filtered into into the common vernacular as a way of reference to a top end something or other. “As your mother’s coming over, I didn’t scrimp on the bread flour, I got the tuppenny stuff!”
So the name tells you what you need to know about our vision for the bar – everything The Tuppenny sells, should be the “tuppenny stuff”, and our service should match.
As a final thought, this research also led us on to our logo and colour scheme. The first stamp issued by the newly founded Royal Mail was the well known penny black. This was fine for letters, but what if you wanted to send a parcel? So, the Royal Mail issued the Tuppenny Blue – a higher class of stamp and the inspiration for our logo. This also explains the presence of a framed stamp on the wall opposite the bar. Yes, it is a genuine tuppenny blue.
