Sign Collections
Ghost sign archives and collections.
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My Leicestershire Digital Archive
Colin Hyde from the Centre for Urban History at Leicester University sent me an email with a fascinating link today. It is to a project he has been curating over the last couple of years which features an unrivalled collection of Ghostsigns from the county of Leicestershire. What is most interesting about the c.250 images in […]
16 May 2011
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The Painted Ad
Twenty-two years on from publishing the definitive Ghostsigns book, William Stage is back. ‘The Painted Ad: A Postcard Book of Vintage Brick Wall Signs’ builds on his own professional work in the postcard industry. He has pooled 25 of his best Ghostsigns images to create a book of cards which can be used to send […]
10 May 2011
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Fresh lick of paint
I received an email this morning from a mural artist with an interest in working to restore/repaint Ghostsigns in the UK. She found me via a great project being run by the London Mural Preservation Society. I started drafting a response and then realised I’ve never written specifically about this topic and thought a blog […]
7 May 2011
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Geoslideshow
I’ve been slowly pursuing the Ghostsigns Worldwide idea and, in the process, came across a new web application being developed. It’s called Geoslideshow and, in response to my suggestion, they’ve cracked the code to generate a map of all geotagged photos in a Flickr group. Click here for the application of this to the Ghostsigns […]
9 Apr 2011
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Cambodia
As you may have seen from my post last month I’m now based in Cambodia for the next two years. While I haven’t yet come across many hand painted signs on walls the hand painted form is alive and well here. They are everywhere I go, offering simple illustrations for those who can’t read and […]
4 Oct 2010
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Change
“Change is inevitable – except from a vending machine.” Robert C. Gallagher Cambodia As some of you will have heard, things are changing in my life and, consequently, with the Ghostsigns Project. This coming Thursday I will be travelling to Cambodia to join my wife who is already there getting ready for our two year […]
13 Sep 2010
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Summer 2010
Bile Beans: Balm Road, Leeds Photographer: Richard Turner In my speech at the HAT archive launch I said that I felt it would be just the start of an ongoing documentation of hand painted advertising of old. Sure enough, the archive and associated publicity surrounding its opening have led to many new contributors getting in […]
13 Sep 2010
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Trails
Ghostsigns have recently popped up a couple of times in trails I’ve come across. These build on my recent type tour and a post about Jo Tomkins’ Stoke Newington Ghostsigns Walk. First up are the Battersea Heritage Trails, a neat little 64-page A6 booklet detailing a series of seven trails around the area. This has […]
12 Jul 2010
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Mapping Ghostsigns
This free application offers some of what I’m looking for, allowing my own geotagged Flickr photos to be easily plotted on a map. When you click on any image in the bar at the bottom or pin in the map you get a direct link to the Flickr photo and any information given in the […]
29 Jun 2010
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Making History in Bath
Press interest in the project continues and on Thursday last week I travelled to Bath to be interviewed for the BBC Radio 4 program Making History. The resulting feature will be broadcast at 3.00pm on Tuesday, 15th June and will also be available after this on iPlayer. [Update: Listen to Ghostsigns on Making History.] Bath […]
6 Jun 2010
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Type Tour
A few weeks ago I went on a walking tour organised by type which was led by the very knowledgable, ex-compositor, John Voller. It took in the area around Fleet Street and St Pauls where the print industry grew up alongside the many associated disciplines/crafts, not least typography. This tour was the ‘West’ route, there […]
6 Jun 2010
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Preserve
Fischer Strube, Luzern Switzerland (Photo: Erik Wallace) While mine and the History of Advertising Trust’s efforts have focused on hand painted advertising from the UK and Ireland it’s always worth remembering that Ghostsigns are a global phenomenon. In fact there are others around the world attempting to capture them for posterity in much the same […]
1 May 2010
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Archive Press
Me with our sponsors from Rank Hovis and Roy Jeans of IPMPhoto: Trevor Liberson More event photos in this Flickr Set. Following last week’s launchI’ve had a busy time with follow up activity. Some of this has been from press interested in writing up the story and I’ll give some more updates soon, especially after […]
26 Mar 2010
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The archive launches
Thank you to everyone who came along to the launch event last night, photos below. The archive is now available so make a visit and have a browse. I’m really happy with the way this has all come together and as I said last night it would simply not have been possible without the generous support […]
19 Mar 2010
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Archive launches tomorrow…
The final video and image highlight as we count down to tomorrow’s launch of the archive. The picture is from the new Hotels & Restaurants gallery while the video features an assortment of different categories which previously didn’t have a home (they now do!). Finally, below, is another video from much earlier in the project […]
18 Mar 2010
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Two days to launch…
Another video and image highlight as we count down to the launch of the archive on 19th March. These are from the Media & Entertainment gallery, although the video was made before the slight adjustment to the categories and has some for shops and retailers that have been split across a number of the new […]
17 Mar 2010
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Three Days to Launch…
Another video and image highlight as we count down to the launch of the archive on 19th March. These are from the Tradesmen & DIY gallery, although the video was made before the slight adjustment to the categories and has some that now feature in the Hotels & Restaurants gallery. More tomorrow.
16 Mar 2010
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Four days to launch…
Another video and image highlight as we count down to the launch of the archive on 19th March. These are from the Medical & Health gallery. More tomorrow.
15 Mar 2010
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Five days to launch…
Another video and image highlight as we count down to the launch of the archive on 19th March. These are from the Services & Financial gallery. More tomorrow. Kodak / A.S.Ashby by casillero
14 Mar 2010
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Six days to launch…
Another video and image highlight as we count down to the launch of the archive on 19th March. These are from the Household & Furniture gallery. The images being featured in this countdown to launch are all those that feature on the postcard series which will be available to buy from Friday, 19th March. More […]
13 Mar 2010
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One week to launch…
Another video and image highlight as we count down to the launch of the archive on 19th March. These are from the Travel & Transport gallery. The images being featured in this countdown to launch are all those that feature on the postcard series which will be available to buy from Friday, 19th March. More […]
11 Mar 2010
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Eight days to launch…
Another video and image highlight as we count down to the launch of the archive on 19th March. These are from the Shoes & Clothing gallery. More tomorrow.
10 Mar 2010
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Nine days to launch…
Another video and image highlight as we count down to the launch of the archive on 19th March. These are from the Food & Drink gallery. More tomorrow.
10 Mar 2010
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Ten days to launch…
With ten days until the archive opens I thought it would be worth picking out some highlights of the project so far. I’ll do one each day until announcing the archive is open for business on Friday, 19th March. First up is this great photo of the Puck Match sign in Leeds and, below, another […]
8 Mar 2010
