Sam Roberts

MOT Tyres (RIP)

This old landmark at the Regent’s Park end of Parkway in Camden has recently been pulled down to make way for a couple of new illuminated poster sites.  I wouldn’t rate it as a classic sign but there was something about the slighty haphazard lettering that appealed. Even the lettering on the shop below was […]

11 Jul 2007

Ghost Signs Society/Club/Group

[Update: This idea has taken life in the various online locations for Ghostsigns.] I visited Louis Sheldon-Williams last night and saw some of his photographs which featured in his exhibition. There are some lovely shots including some that have since disappeared (this example can still be seen on the garage on this street). We talked […]

10 Jul 2007

Boots (Past & Present)

Boots – Camden High Street. While browsing some of the excellent Ghost Signs on Flickr I came across this picture by 2WArmy. I think it’s great compared to my photo so wanted to share it. Look at how the detail in the brick has come out and also the detail of the lettering. Having another […]

10 Jul 2007

Ghost Signs Book (Stage)

Ghost Signs – Brick Wall Signs in America W.M. Stage I bought this book last year and was reading through it again today. Not only does it feature some great photos from around USA but it also has a superb level of depth of research into the production of signs, the people who painted them […]

9 Jul 2007

Peterkin Mystery

This classic sign for Peterkin’s Custard, Self-Raising Flour and Corn Flour can be seen on St John’s Hill near Clapham Junction Station. See a bigger picture here. The sign was first brought to my attention by Nicola via the Museum of Brands, Packaging & Advertising.  She was interested in the company and what happened to […]

4 Jul 2007

Ghost Signs UK Video

Inspired by JDProductions’ Ghost Signs video I had to have a go myself. Here’s my first effort featuring “Loving Love” by Patsy Todd and 14 of my favourite signs from around London. It was made using MemoriesOnTV software. What fun, more to come! Also see the Only Fools & Horses video with a collection of […]

3 Jul 2007

Gillette Palimpsest 2

Here’s another example from the Gillette campaign where there are three signs revealed on one site (palimpsest) in Dalston: Gillette across the middle; Cafe vertically on the right; Sunday… on the diagonal in the top left. There are probably even more but these are the most prominent.

2 Jul 2007

Gillette Palimpsest

Following the previous post on Gillette Razors I was looking again at this sign which I had always referred to as ‘Westminster Criterion Matches’. It is a rare example of two signs on different walls of the same building, sharing its home with my original post. On closer inspection it is possible to make out […]

2 Jul 2007

Gillette Razors

Frank Jump just posted this London sign he photographed while visiting in Spring 2001. It’s a classic Gillette ad with the characteristic blue background colour. The sign below is one I took on Clapham High Street and part of a an ongoing Campaign that Gillette ran in the Brickad format. You can see on the Clapham […]

2 Jul 2007

Ghost Signs Film

I came across this film that someone made with a nice music track to go with it.  It looks to be mainly USA signs but I spotted a couple in there from the Kentish Town/Highgate area, including the one for KM Larn and also the one advertising a place that used to offer Beanfeats. From […]

29 Jun 2007

Google Earth Experiment

Last winter I took some of my photos from Flickr and attempted to begin building a map of signs and locations. You can see my preliminary results here if you have Google Earth installed on your machine. You can zoom in and move around and then click on the thumbnail signs for a bigger view […]

28 Jun 2007

Production Process

Click here for some interesting notes on the production of Ghost Signs from the USA Museum of Beer Brewing. It implies that the sign writers (or Wall Dogs in USA) used sheets of paper to create a dotted chalk outline on the wall which they could then use to guide the application of paint. I […]

27 Jun 2007

Panasonic (New York)

Lena found this one some time ago lurking on the Wikipedia entry for Panasonic [Update: It no longer appears there]. It’s a fantastically simple design and a really nice photo from Uris. See the full size image here [Update: Link no longer active]. The information on Wikipedia says that the company stopped selling bikes in USA […]

25 Jun 2007

Mister Furniture (France)

My mum just got back from France where there is a great tradition of painted sign writing. This one is from Beziers in the south of the country and says “Mister Furniture Sauvagnac”. See this website for more French examples.

25 Jun 2007

Vaneers

This is a huge sign for London and is tucked away round the back of Shoreditch High Street/Kingsland Road.  It was painted in order to be highly visible from the nearby train line and has the old style way of writing phone numbers, SHO (Shoreditch) being 746. Out of view on this picture is the 7 […]

25 Jun 2007

Blue Star

Another picture from Andrew Hughes in Lincoln. He dates this c.1960 and says that Blue Star was a national chain of garages.  Also, above the brightly coloured sign, you can see the chopped remains of another older sign on the same spot. The well preserved nature of both signs, the fact that the older one […]

25 Jun 2007

Whitton’s Bread

Andrew Hughes, who is writing his dissertation on the protection of Ghost Signs, sent me this well preserved sign from Lincoln.  The bread would most probably have been made at Whitton’s Mill in nearby Whitton, perhaps an early competitor to Hovis as this sign is actually for the shop but probably paid for by Whitton’s. […]

25 Jun 2007

Dewars (New York)

Colossal Media I came across an old email from Faris that he sent me after he got back from New York. It had this picture attached with has been painted onto a concrete blocked out window. It was on North 6th, Williamsburg, New York City but I wonder if it’ll have the staying power of […]

23 Jun 2007

Thetford Warrens

This picture was sent to me by my uncle who lives in Norwich. I saw it for myself when I visited recently.  It is advertising the rabbit warrens at Thetford and is part of a series of similar signs on this building between the windows on the first floor. The sign writer has picked a […]

23 Jun 2007

Frank Jump

Frank Jump is a leading photographer of Ghost Signs in USA with quite a unique story as to how and why he got started.  I was in touch with him last year and he mentioned a visit to London where he saw one of the classic Gillette signs and also one for a tailor in […]

22 Jun 2007

Protecting Ghost Signs

It seems from people I’ve spoken to that it is very difficult to protect signs from distruction or being covered up.  However some notable exceptions exist such as the Bile Beans restoration project, the baker in Islington and now a judge has ruled in favour of a ghost sign and against a major outdoor advertising […]

21 Jun 2007

Hovis (Haringey)

Further to the previous post on the Hovis sign in Islington, here’s another example of this style from along Stroud Green Road in Haringey. The Hovis logo is different but the principle of Hovis sponsoring the painting of the sign in return for it being featured is the same.

21 Jun 2007

Hovis (Islington)

I discovered this sign at night on 3rd April this year and only got round to photographing it on Tuesday this week. I’ll have to go back to take another picture once the estate agent’s sign is removed but have put it up today because of the story behind it. On Tuesday I asked the […]

21 Jun 2007

Martin Thompson

Martin Thompson is an artist who has done a series of pieces based on his photography of predominantly London Ghost Signs. He calls them “urban fossils”. There was an exhibition in 2006 at the Bettie Morton Gallery in Brixton which I went to and was impressed with some of the signs. I would have loved […]

21 Jun 2007