Sam Roberts

Faux ghostsigns, authenticity and the passage of time: Guest post from Best Dressed Signs

‘Faux’ ghostsigns are a relatively new phenomenon but are appearing with increasing frequency around the world. I invited Meredith Kasabian, of Boston’s Best Dressed Signs and The Pre-Vinylite Society, to share her thoughts given her and Josh Luke’s recent work on the example above. Several months ago, Josh and I received a request to paint […]

21 Jul 2013

Bile Beans, York: Correction and update

This Bile Beans ghostsign from Lord Mayor’s Walk in York has become something of a ‘poster boy’ for the medium. It was repainted for the second time last November, sparking a mixed reaction from locals, as is often the case with ghostsigns restoration projects. The knowledgeable and inquisitive Lisa from the excellent York Stories website […]

23 Jun 2013

Public lettering walk with Phil Baines and Catherine Dixon

Yesterday I had the pleasure of joining Phil Baines and Catherine Dixon on their latest Public Lettering walk, organised through the excellent St Bride Library events programme. As with my earlier walking tour in this part of London (Type Tour West) it started at the library but then took a different route to weave through Smithfield before […]

24 May 2013

Born and Raised from David A Smith, John Mayer and Danny Cooke

This has left me speechless. Sublime. Ridiculous. Unbelievable. Thank you to David, John and Danny for bringing the story of this piece of work to life through film. An incredible follow up to the last one.

19 May 2013

Horn Please and the Wonderful World of India’s Hand-Painted Trucks

Horn Please is a short film by directors Shantanu Suman and Istling Mirche, all about the bright and colourful hand-painted trucks that fuel India‘s massive goods transportation system. It is an insightful and captivating expose of this fascinating cultural phenomenon, touching on the history of truck painting in India, the significance of the designs and the […]

16 May 2013

Local Listed Status for Hackney Ghost Signs

Love Local Landmarks, an English Heritage-backed project, has been successful in gaining local listing status for two of Hackney’s most famous ghostsigns. The Blooms Piano sign (above) and the Waterman’s Fountain Pen sign on Stoke Newington Church Street have both been recognised for their “Aesthetic or Artistic” merit, and also for their historical significance. The […]

12 May 2013

The Greatest Wonder of the World

While on my recent travels I was lucky enough to stumble upon The Greatest Wonder of the World exhibition at the State Library of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. The banner outside in big gold letters of various scripts obviously attracted my attention, and what a treat it was (and still is until 12th […]

5 May 2013

Ghost Sign Hunting: Melbourne Seminar

I am very excited to announce a forthcoming seminar in which I will be speaking alongside Stephen Banham, author of Characters and something of a typographic legend, and Stefan Schutt, curator of the Lewis and Skinner archive and author of the Finding the Radio Book blog. It will be held on the afternoon/evening of Tuesday, […]

26 Feb 2013

Housefront Coronation Mural Uncovered

Here is John Shaw in Burton scraping the final bit of paint off the front of his house which revealed this home-made mural from 1953 celebrating the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. A bit more about the discovery in this article from the Burton Mail [Link expired].

12 Dec 2012

Ghost graffiti

The captions say it all really, note that the graffiti and the building it is on have both lasted longer than the enormous block of flats in the background. Found via Robert Lambie on uksignboards.com.

8 Dec 2012

Sydney ghostsigns from Finding the Radio Book

This and a number of other ghostsigns images from Sydney, Australia, are featured on the Finding the Radio Book blog. Stefan notes that he didn’t find a huge number on his visit there, many overlapping with those on the Preserve site. This could be due to the nature of the places visited i.e. more central […]

1 Dec 2012

It’s Alive: Gilding with Ken Davis

Ken Davis – It’s Alive from Taylor Morgan on Vimeo. Hope you enjoy this short film about the gilder Ken Davis and his piece on glass for Empire 7 Studios in San Jose, California. Find more video content on Ghostsigns.

28 Nov 2012

Hand-painted Asahi beer sign at the Earl of Portobello

Regular correspondent Ross Corben sent me this newly painted sign for Asahi beer on the side of the Earl of Portobello pub in West London (close up below). It’s an unusual brand for a piece of hand-painted advertising in my opinion, at least in light of the synergy between other users of the medium such as Jack […]

24 Nov 2012

Vandalised frescoes with a twist in Valencia’s cathedral

This before and after of a fresco in Valencia cathedral shows that smutty humour will never grow old – the drawing on the angel’s wing will be familiar to anyone who has ever visited a school toilet. What is interesting about this one is that it was added by a workman in the 17th century […]

21 Nov 2012

A novel approach to ghostsign conservation from Vancouver

This ghostsign for the Little Theatre in Vancouver is the subject of a unique preservation effort prompted by the efforts of the Grandview Heritage Group. In response to a letter sent to the developers currently at work on the building they have been told that two actions will be taken to preserve the sign. First […]

17 Nov 2012

Liverpool Ghost Signs by Caroline and Phil Bunford

Today sees the publication of the UK’s first ghostsigns book. Liverpool Ghost Signs by Caroline and Phil Bunford is “a sideways look at the city’s advertising history” and features over 150 images of fading, crumbling and disused signage. Caroline and Phil were almost single-handedly responsible for the material from Liverpool in the History of Advertising […]

15 Nov 2012

Ghostsigns from Invisible Bordeaux

Tim Pike runs the Invisible Bordeaux blog. I recently helped him find some locations in the area for a new series of posts about ghostsigns. In addition to this first blog post about ghostsigns in Bordeaux, Tim has cleverly plotted them all on a Google map which he will add to as he makes more […]

3 Nov 2012

Sign painter tributes from Colossal Media and the Sign Painter Movie

This was new to me today, the first film from Colossal Media and a tribute to the team at Sky High Murals who execute their huge hand-painted advertising murals in the USA. Nice. (Read more Colossal Media posts.) Another tribute comes in book with the publication of ‘Sign Painters’ by Faythe Levine and Sam Macon. This […]

31 Oct 2012

Is this Lipton’s tea sign genuine, repainted, or something else?

This Lipton’s Tea sign on Frank Jump’s blog has led him to ask if it is repainted or even a modern recreation? It is in Denver Colorado and to me the borders look very unusual which might lend some support to the recreation thesis. The sign painting company (The Curran Co.) named in the bottom […]

27 Oct 2012

Brymay Reveal from West Norwood

You win some, you lose some and Caroline has definitely found a winner with this fantastic Brymay matches reveal in West Norwood. It is part of a wider campaign by the Bryant & May company, as can be seen by the other examples of their advertising in the History of Advertising Trust Ghostsigns Archive. In […]

24 Oct 2012

Ghost Signs of Kidderminster by Laurie Abraham

This collage, ‘Ghost Signs of Kidderminster’, by Laurie Abraham scooped first prize in a competition to depict the heritage of Kidderminster in the Midlands. It puts together a number of signs of different types from around the central market area, including those painted by hand, chiselled from stone, relief lettering and even brick colours used […]

20 Oct 2012

Montreal ghostsigns book

I’ve just learned of a new book that has been published all about Montreal’s ghostsigns in Canada. It looks to be a fascinating addition to the literature, especially as it juxtaposes faded signs with archive photos of them when the paint was a lot fresher. It is the personal project of Réjane Bougé who, in this […]

17 Oct 2012

Anthony Quinn and the Victor Clothing Company

This huge advertising mural in Los Angeles was painted to coincide with with the Olympics in 1984. Named “The Pope of Broadway”, the mural features a local hero, the actor Anthony Quinn, and was painted by the artist Eloy Torrez. It advertises the Victor Clothing Company which moved to these premises in 1923 after being founded in […]

13 Oct 2012

RIP: Midford Fox

This photo from the early 1900s comes from the Akeman Press Archive and shows a family posing with their car outside this former tavern in Midford, Somerset. Kirsten Elliott from Akeman informs me that the last remains of the sign have now been rendered and painted over, making this a recent addition to the growing […]

10 Oct 2012