Vintage Varnished Wooden SOLE Sign colorfully painted figures I recently found another postcard

I recently found another postcard featuring a baby having just spilled a bottle of black ink all over the place

which I'm sure has lost a few creatures along the way

I've found a close match of this bottle that describes it as 19th century

which this is

Vintage Varnished Wooden SOLE Sign colorfully painted figures I recently found another postcardSometimes I feel like things were made just for me to find them. Like this one. As you probably know by now, I love found language, and especially words and phrases that have the capacity to take on different meanings in different contexts. I'm not sure what this "SOLE" sign was originally made to signal whether it was someone's last name, or made by a fish monger (my guess) or to hang in a cobbler's shop, or what. But for me, who loves people but