Rob Baker tweets the most fantastic London pictures (find him on Twitter at @robnitm). He recently posted the one below (dating from 1966). The Golden Boy stands at what used to be known as Pye Corner, at the junction of Giltspur Street and Cock Lane, opposite St Bartholomew’s Hospital (seen on the right of the picture).

In the picture below Rob’s, here’s one I found dating from 1910, of the shortly to be demolished Fortune of War pub – safe haven and watering-hole of the London bodysnatchers – with the Golden Boy on the Giltspur Street side. At this time, he was simply made of gilded wood, and by 1910, his original yellow-painted tiny wings had been knocked off. (For my money, he looks rather more thoughtful than his later incarnation.)

The Fortune of War had originally been called The Naked Boy pub, and the figurine is far older than the tavern. In 1721, the new publican changed the pub’s name, allegedly because he had lost both his legs and one arm at sea: the “fortune of war” was loss of limb, literally. A rival story has it that a prize fighter bought the Naked Boy with the winnings from his boxing and changed its name – using the fortune he had made from “war” in the ring.

The latest, very bright gold, version of the boy can be seen today on the wall of the 1980s office block that’s on the spot. Below him, there is also a fresh version of the legend carved into stone, telling the story that the Fire of London stopped at this spot in 1666, and claiming that the Fire had been caused all along by gluttony, debauchery and so on. . . But especially gluttony, because it started in Pudding Lane and ended at Pye Corner. Geddit?!