Kaiserlich und Koeniglich ...Imperial and Royal

Although there has not been a Monarchy since 1918, several dozen businesses in and around Vienna still proudly carry the initials K. und K. (Kaiserlich und Koeniglich) in front of their business name.
K. und K. signifies that they, or more likely their predecessors were requested to supply the Imperial and Royal Court Of Austria/Hungary with their goods and/or services. Of course only the very best in their field were chosen for this honour and were, by decree, permitted to carry those initials. Therefore we still have an "Imperial and Royal Shoemaker", an "Imperial and Royal Sweetbaker" an "Imperial and Royal supplier of Porcellan and Glassware" and many many other "Imperial and Royal this 'n thats".
Officially, it is illegal to carry this designation in today's decidedly Non-Imperial and Non-Royal
Republic of Austria. Some businesses have decided to overcome this prohibition by placing the abriviation ehem. (formerly) in front of the K und K. Others just seem to ignore the prohibition and the authorities don't seem to get too excited about it.
So, you want to do business with a firm where first rate quality is guaranteed? Go to a K. und K.
Or that's the way it was, anyway.....
(see the samples below)

K. und K.
Ihr Deutschsprachigen Leser meines Blogs, fuer Euch brauch ich das K und K gar nicht erklaeren. Ihr wisst genau, dass das fuer "Kind und Kegel" steht.