18 Feb 2015

Glasgow Ghostsigns Galore

I’ve been traveling a lot with work lately and was recently in Glasgow for a workshop. With a couple of hours to spare I looked up a few locations on the History of Advertising Trust Ghostsigns Archive and took to the streets. Here’s what I saw…

An abandoned gallery and picture framers, F.W. Holroyd. The company is still trading, at new premises in Dykehead Street.

The gallery’s signage dominates this corner building on a busy junction near the city centre.

Some of the signage painted on the wall, showing the year of establishment over 100 years ago.

This wall shows the remains of a canvass for painted signage and, in 2004, a ghostsign for Ecko Radio was clearly visible.

Close-up of the wall which is now host to some graffiti. Some patches of the deep red background from the Ecko sign remain.

The paint on this old sign for Red Hackle Whisky is gradually cracking and falling off. (An archival photo of another location in this previous blog post.)

Close up showing the red colour on the word red, with the white paint all around almost completely gone.

What remains of a detailed illustration of the whisky bottle that once featured prominently on the sign.

This panel is on the goods entrance of a building and appears to have the remains of some gilded lettering.

Other pieces of signage flank the gilded ghostsign to the left and above. The words ‘Good Entrance’ are clearly visible on the black and white piece to the left. These smaller panel signs are quite common in Scotland.

This distressed piece is on the opposite wall of the goods entrance.

The panoramic photo at the top of this post is from Patrick Thomas Court, once home to Broom & Green, fruit brokers in the 1930s.

Also in Patrick Thomas Court is this pair of signs for Dan Wuille & Co.

A variety of letterforms feature in this panel, showing the nationwide nature of the Dan Wuille & Co business.

The main branch was in Covent Garden, suggesting another Fruit & Veg connection.

Here the national locations for Dan Wuille & Co are listed and it appears the Cardiff branch is still trading as a wholesale fruiterer.

Adjacent to the Dan Wuille & Co signs is another for A.Allan.

Close-up of the A.Allan sign which appears to have been painted relatively recently in imitation gold on a black background.

Patrick Thomas Court is set back from Candleriggs. A little further down, at the junction with Wilson Street, are these remnants of a shop called Nova.

Close-up of the Nova ghostsign on Candleriggs.

I also spotted a few non-painted pieces of signage and lettering walking around. These mounted letters advertise a corsetry business that stopped trading in the 1990s.

Gilded glass piece for I.J. Mellis Cheesemongers, well worth stepping inside to sample the produce.

This shop is packed to the rafters with all sorts of second hand books. I picked up a copy of Robert Opie’s ‘The Art of the Label‘.

And finally, I learned that Glasgow is one of the best places to see old blue police boxes, although not identical to those in Dr Who apparently. For that you have to travel to Crich Tramway village.

There’s no doubt many more signs that I didn’t get to see on this trip. Here are some past blog posts on Glasgow, and Scotland in general. Until my next visit…

• A.Allan
• Broom & Green
• Caledonia Books
• Candleriggs
• Dan Wuille
• Ecko
• Ecko Radio
• F.W. Holroyd
• Gilding
• Glasgow
• Goods Entrance
• I.J. Mellis
• Illustration
• Jacobean Corsetry
• Nova
• Patrick Thomas Court
• Police Box
• Red Hackle
• Scotland