Programme

A programme incorporating a menu and seating plan for a livery banquet held at Saddlers Hall on 22 January 1914.

Printed gold on cream card, the menu cover is headed with a large print of the Saddlers Guild coat of arms. Inside, the seating plan, menu, toasts, music programme and grace are all printed in blue on white paper. Included in the ten course meal were 'Oysters' to start, 'Marrow Puddings' and 'Maids of Honour'.

The earliest records of a Guild of Saddlers in London are dated around 1160 and the Saddlers Company received its first charter in 1275. In 1395 the company was incorporated and it was around this time that the Saddlers Hall was also likely completed. Like much of London the Hall was destroyed in 1666 by the Great Fire of London. The second hall, too, was destroyed by fire in 1821 and the third was brought down by air raid damage during the Second World War. The current Hall, built in the mid 1950s, still stands.