Individual Signs
Blog posts about particular ghostsigns, including those which have been lost (RIPs), repainted or where some general research has been done about the sign.
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RIP: Bull Durham, Plainfield, New Jersey
Photo: Plaintalker II More photos documenting the loss of this sign on the Plaintalker II blog.
31 Jan 2012
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‘It hasta be SHASTA’: Great slogan and preservation debate from San Francisco
Great collection of signs and a write up on the Perception Filter blog about this soft drink campaign in San Francisco. More here.
15 Jan 2012
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Destruction Awaits for Bull Durham in Plainfield, New Jersey…
…as the host building is about to be knocked down…
15 Jan 2012
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Hemingway’s Ales (RIP)
This wonderful gable end sign for Hemingway’s Ales (Big Ben’s brand) ceased to exist as of 9th March 2011. It was a truly remarkable ghostsign and featured as the backdrop for my interview with John Seargent in the piece broadcast on the One Show. Incidentally I notice that it isn’t currently featured in the archive […]
15 Jan 2012
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Lincoln
Photo: Paul Turner Another one bites the dust, this time for Blue Star/Regent in Lincoln. This sign had real star quality, if you’ll excuse the pun, and featured from the Travel & Transport gallery in the series of postcards produced to celebrate the opening of the HAT archive. This is another piece of evidence for […]
9 Sep 2010
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What was John Bull?
A magazine or a tyre brand? Or something else? While working on refining the categories for the archive I came across two signs which I am now uncertain about and I need your help. These are both for brands that adopted the moniker John Bull, which I now understand is a generic character akin to […]
12 Dec 2009
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Gillette/Criterion (RIP)
Gillette/Criterion, Southwark Bridge Road, London, SE1 (July 2007) Gillette/Criterion, Southwark Bridge Road, London, SE1 (November 2009) Two RIPs in one day, what’s happening! Again, this happened a little while ago but it was only today that I managed to get out with my camera to take a photograph. This was once one in a series […]
12 Nov 2009
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BP (RIP)
BP, Kings Cross Road, London, WC1 (July 2007) BP, Kings Cross Road, London, WC1 (November 2009) It’s been a while since this happened but those based in London may have noticed the erection of some new flats on Kings Cross Road which now obscure the vast majority of this BP sign that was once there. […]
12 Nov 2009
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Ariel / Writers update
Photos courtesy of Graham Parker. Following some of the information provided by Jerry in the comments on this post about the Ariel/Writers sign in Kennington I’ve been sent a couple of fascinating pictures by Graham Parker. The first of these shows the front of the shop as it once was, although looking pretty closed down […]
6 Jul 2009
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Window Painting
Shop window name painter Originally uploaded by Apotheker Nice picture here from a set of Apotheker in Amsterdam showing a window painter at work. Notice how he has masked off the letter heights. The full text is going to be ‘Bevlogen’ so I don’t know what the two little bits of masking at the end […]
25 Oct 2008
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Bomb Shelter
Shelter, Lord North Street (photo by Pryere) John AKA Pryere sent me this great photo of an old sign on Lord North Street in London. It is a relic from the war and points directly at the front door of number 16 (see below), although refers to vaults under the pavement. Given the proximity of […]
24 Jun 2008
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Ultrabold
Simon got in touch a while back asking if I could write a short piece for the Ultrabold magazine, the quarterly journal of St Bride Library. This is a specialist library and archive of print, graphic design, typography and more in Fleet Street. (Which reminds me that my visit is now well overdue!) The outcome […]
17 Jun 2008
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Dewars by Frank Jump
© Frank H. Jump Those guys over at Colossal Media go from strength to strength, this their latest creation in the Dewars campaign, photographed by Frank Jump. See the short film about the campaign here.
27 Jan 2008
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Save this sign…
Ross sent me this photo which is of an old metallic sign that is currently free to take for anyone who has the necessary tools. His message follows: “It’s within plastic barriers for an excavation in the pavement but I pulled it out of a pile of rubble so I think it’ll get thrown […]
24 Jan 2008
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Sweet Caporal (Canada)
George from Alberta, Canada, sent me this great sign from a town called Medicine Hat and a bit of a story to go with it. It is an example of ‘privelege’ advertising as the wall probably belonged to Pingle’s Drug & Book Store who would have given it over to Sweet Caporal in return for […]
8 Nov 2007
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Society of Operative Printers & Assistants (RIP)
Some time ago Nick sent me this picture of an old ‘shop’ front on Blackfriars Road. The building is quite clearly not used any more but the signage had survived until very recently. I cycled past it today and the two sides visible here have fallen off or been destroyed. However, a third side (to […]
16 Oct 2007
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Redferns (RIP?)
These great brickads were protected for many years by a couple of billboards, although they weren’t entirely covered. This meant that some of the outer edges were lost to weathering, cleaning and sandblasting. I must have got lucky that Chris told me about them as when I went to get a better photo on Saturday […]
7 Aug 2007
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Ghost Signs World Record
This photo taken by Rick Lee in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA features the most ghost signs I’ve ever seen on a single wall, a world record perhaps? I’m now wondering if there are any other contenders out there? The building pictured on page four of Ben Passikoff’s book comes close and I think it is most […]
4 Aug 2007
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Gramophones Records (RIP)
I am informed by sarflondondunc that this ghost sign has been erased. It was just by Clapham North Station and I used it in my recent presentation as an example of a plain text sign which has been designed to fit around the available wall space. It was visible from both the nearby train line […]
2 Aug 2007
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John Brown’s Whiskies
Yesterday I hopped on the bike and went out to follow up some leads given to me by friends. On my way to the first sign, the great Spitalfields Gillette, I went past three or four in the same area that I hadn’t expected to see. This is generally the nature of ‘hunting’, that new […]
22 Jul 2007
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Guinness & John Gilroy
One way in which brickads are revealed is when an adjoining building is demolished. The standard of preservation in these cases is often emaculate, as the sign has been protected from the elements and sandblasters. This example from Cardiff in the long running Guinness campaign is in fantastic condition and the question is whether it […]
19 Jul 2007
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Ghost Signs Live (India?)
Painting Wall-Ads Originally uploaded by .Hessam In a flurry of discoveries on the painting of Modern Brickads I came across this from .Hessam. It again shows an intricate sign being produced and you can see the artist’s miniture design sheet perched against the wall in front of his foot. I can’t read the text but […]
18 Jul 2007
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Pepsi Brickad (Mumbai)
Brickads are truly a global phenomenon. Here’s one for Pepsi, probably not that old, from Mumbai in India. It’s a slightly budget effort compared to some other modern signs.
17 Jul 2007
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Fading Signs
This sign on Sidmouth Street in Central London is an excellent example of palimpsest and also featured in Time Out’s original article on disappearing London. However, this particular photo offers a dramatic illustration of the effects of weathering on brickads. It can clearly be seen from the shadow cast by the sun that the top […]
16 Jul 2007
