Sign Collections
Ghost sign archives and collections.
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The Fantastic World of Shopfrontelegy
I’ve recently subscribed to Shopfrontelegy, a post-per-day blog from Vici MacDonald, the photographer and publisher behind Formerly. Given my recent interest in ‘fading fascias‘ the blog has been compulsive reading/viewing, with a collection of shopfront photography going back many years. It should probably come with a health warning about the hours you’re likely to lose […]
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Ghostsigns Restorations in Cambridge
This is the third and final post in a series documenting recent ghostsign restorations across the UK. It follows coverage of the Palladium Cinema restoration in Morecambe, and the repainting of the Larkspur Soft Drinks sign in Bradford. The focus this time is Cambridge and a slightly different approach to those previously covered. The Bulls […]
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Ghost Signs and Public Lettering in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter
On 21 May, before my Type Talk at Birmingham Institute of Art and Design, I helped lead a walk through the city’s historic Jewellery Quarter. This was in collaboration with Geraldine Marshall of the Birmingham Graphic DNA Project, and focused on the ghostsigns and public lettering that can be found in the quarter. It was […]
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F.C. Osborn and the Fading Fascias
This beautiful shop fascia was recently revealed on Dalston Lane, Hackney, London, as part of renovations to the shop by a new tenant. (Thanks Bryce for tipping me off!). The following photos show some of the detail of this sign for F.C.Osborn, Bookseller, who occupied the premises from the mid-1920s to at least 1950. Prior […]
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Five Amazing Egyptian Ghost Signs from Iman Abdulfattah
If you don’t already follow Frank Jump’s Fading Ad blog then I’d highly recommend you do so. Frank is a long-time friend and author of the book about New York’s widespread collection of fading ads. His ‘Uptown Correspondent‘ is Iman Abdulfattah and recently he has been posting her material from Cairo, Egypt, where she spends […]
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Fading Ads of St. Louis by Wm. Stage
This stunning photograph is from the cover of Wm. Stage‘s latest addition to the ghostsigns literature, ‘Fading Ads of St. Louis‘. Stage’s first book, ‘Ghost Signs‘, remains the definitive text on the topic and so it is no surprise to find his latest work full of fantastic photography and meticulous research. In this case Stage […]