Victorian china fairing company developed a mass production method that no other company could match, thereby achieving an advantage over other firms. The subject matter that inspired fairings varies widely and provides an interesting insight into the popular culture of the Victorian era. Popular songs and music hall numbers inspire some of them, such as "Jenny Jones and Ned Morgan" and "Champagne Charlie is my name". Others commemorate notable people or buildings such as Ladies of Llangollen (relating to the scandalous affair of Lady Eleanor Butler and Lady Sarah Ponsonby) or "The Model of Laxey" (the Laxey Wheel on the Isle of Mann,
The Newcastle Eccentrics of the 19th century size and eccentricity was often a magnet for bullies. Archibald was never married, but once apparently found a young maid who lived on the Quayside and of who he said she was almost as canny a woman as his mother. A compliment indeed. Archibald Henderson died 14 May 1828, aged 86 years. Bold Archy appears in several songs including :- One of the Eccentrics in the painting Captain Benjamin Starkey was an inhabitant of the Freeman's Hospital in Newcastle. He told Thomas Allan that he was unable to remember how or when he took, or was given, the title “Captain”.