Tudor Revival and Popular Culture
Louisvillians saw Tudor all around them, and not just on the streets of their city and neighborhoods. Depictions of Tudor Revival permeated popular culture. Merrie Olde England was a popular and ubiquitous theme in the 1920s and 1930s. Three examples among many are discussed here: movies, consumer goods, and Christmas motifs during the holidays.
These depictions likewise drew from a wide swath of real and imagined architecture during England’s Tudor years, which were themselves generously padded to accommodate many English and medieval influences. Thus, the homes, businesses, and other buildings designed using Tudor Revival hallmarks were in fact part of a larger phenomenon that brought all things “ye olde” to the masses. When seen this way, it is easy to understand how Tudor Revival homes became so popular—they were just one more way Olde England was permeating American culture.
Old England at the Movies
Few things defined modernity in 1920s America more than the moving picture. Going to the movies became many Americans’ primary leisure activity, and swashbuckling films were a staple of the new medium. They were also awash in Tudor imagery. Half-timbered structures, white stucco walls, and deep recessed archways were all mainstays for favored the contrasting hues of the Tudor style. Medieval, Tudor, and Old-World tales like Robin Hood and The Three Musketeers all became largely interchangeable for their Tudor-infused backdrops and sets.
"Robin Hood," 1922.
"The Three Musketeers," 1921.
Audiences internalized the inherent drama that Tudor architecture delivered, fueling their own interest in revivalist styles. Movie theaters themselves also sometimes recreated the Tudor themes that were projected on the big screen. Louisville’s Towers Theatre on West Oak Street featured a castle-like tower as well as an adjacent row of half-timbered storefronts.
Makers of animated shorts and feature-length films also tapped into Tudor architecture. Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) shows the dwarfs' house as a Tudor cottage fantasy, complete with half timbering, steep gables, an arched doorway, and a large chimney.
Consumer Goods
All kinds of products were named and marketed using Tudor-inspired themes evoking lords and ladies, castles and manor houses, dining halls and medieval taverns. Kentucky's spirits industry was no exception.
Bourbon makers especially leaned into "ye olde" motifs, giving their products an air of tradition and longevity, as well as prestige. From coats of arms to suits of armor, the visual language of Merrie Olde England provided endless possibilities for a distillery eager to sell to consumers swept up in Tudor's popularity.
Christmas motifs
Carolers, medieval minstrels, kingly feasts, and ancient yule logs were all common Christmas themes that capitalized on the Merrie Olde England fad. The Christmas cards below were sent to Louisville couple Walter and Elizabeth Shackelton over the course of several holiday seasons in the late 1920s. Although sent by different families over different years, the consistency of the Olde English themes is pronounced, suggesting just how popular Merrie Olde England had become.
Of particular note is the repetition of Tudor-style houses, with steeply pitched snowy roofs, half-timbered exteriors, and leaded glass windows. Cards like these could be ordered from catalogs in pre-printed sets with the sender's name or in smaller batches to sign personally.
In the 1920s and 1930s, retailers—especially department stores—crafted Christmas fantasies rooted in Tudor Revival architecture. Designers and artists used window displays, parade floats, and entire sections of their stores to build Tudor-style creations. Common themes included Christmas villages, Toylands, and houses or workshops for Santa Claus.
Drawing from dozens of period photographs and illustrations, this scaled-down display envisions the type of whimsical Tudor structure that became a mainstay of the holiday shopping season in the early 20th century. On the inside, the miniature Santa's workshop would have been instantly recognizable to any Christmas shopper during the height of the Tudor fad.
Christmas Seals
Kentucky, and Jefferson County especially, was an epicenter of tuberculosis in the early 20th century. When the National Tuberculosis Association (today the American Lung Association) launched its annual Christmas Seals campaign, Louisville particularly took note.
Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the Association's designs for the yearly stamps heavily featured themes of Olde England. 1931’s design was a variation on a popular "Ye Olde Inn" motif, which typically featured a Tudor-style inn along with a horse-drawn stagecoach. Posters promoting the stamps went up around the city, and the campaign received significant press coverage, ensuring much of Louisville saw the Tudor-inspired design.
