What crosses your mind when one mentions a word like “Hoarding”? Would it be something like this?

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Now this would be my definition of hoarding! Yeesh, that is quite a mess isn’t it? Before anyone asks, it’s not a piccie I snapped of my own bedroom…no. Like a lot of things in life these days, I scrounged the pic off the net, or more precisely – from here.

Now why am I bringing up the topic of hoarding anyway? Well, I was doing some routine searching on eBay recently when I came across the following:

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The item is described as:

Here you have a “H.P SAUCE ” Hoarding. To three sides of the hoarding there are various shrubs of different colours, the Hoarding measures approx 2.5ins wide x 2.5ins high. This would make a grand addition to anyone’s layout. Thank-you for looking and happy e-baying.

I am genuinely puzzled by this one. I’ve seen a lot of strange HP pictures since starting up this site (just take a look at the HP Sauce gallery!), but this one really strikes me as bizarre. Firstly, lets us tackle the name, for I have never heard of the word “Hoarding” used in this manner.

dict.die.net‘s definition of “Hoarding” is:

hoarding
n : large outdoor signboard [syn: billboard]

Source: Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Hoard
p. pr. & vb. n: To collect and lay up; to amass and deposit in secret; to store secretly, or for the sake of keeping and accumulating; as, to hoard grain.

Hoarding
1. (Arch.) A screen of boards inclosing a house and materials while builders are at work. [Eng.]

Posted on every dead wall and hoarding. –London Graphic.

2. A fence, barrier, or cover, inclosing, surrounding, or concealing something.

The whole arrangement was surrounded by a hoarding, the space within which was divided into compartments by sheets of tin. –Tyndall.

Source: Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001)

So there we have more of an official definition of a “Hoarding”. It doesn’t quite describe our picture though does it? I suppose the closest definition might be “The whole arrangement was surrounded by a hoarding”.

So, what is a HP Sauce Hoarding? There’s not a whole lot to go on from either the picture or the description. By all accounts it looks to be simply an old HP Sauce advert stuck into some foam along with some artificial sprigs thrown in for good measure. The first thing that comes to mind is, why? Why would anyone do that? The description states “This would make a grand addition to anyone’s layout.“. What kind of layout would that be? Would it be used as a place setting for formal dinner occasions? To put on ones tombstone perhaps?

I thought perhaps this was simply another British thing that may have got lost in translation, so I checked in with two British mates of mine and asked them both if they had heard of an alternative description for “Hoarding”. Unfortunately, neither of them had. Mind you, neither of them are what I’d call ‘society’ types, and I could’ve outrightly guessed from the outset that this type of “Hoarding” probably doesn’t play much of a role in their daily routines! . Where oh where is Mrs Bucket (pronounced ‘bouquet’) when you need her?? Surely she would have one or two of these always at the ready to display next to her Royal Doulton china (with hand painted periwinkles)!

Perhaps someone out there can explain what this is all about? An HP advert with sprigs stuck in foam, suitable for anyones layout! I doubt that even our Mandy could explain away this one, though she is certainly welcome to try!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 11th, 2006 at 3:04pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.