Black Cat

Bill-Poster: A London Type

Sadly we recently lost what was one of my all-time favourite ghost signs, in the shape of the Black Cat on Dingley Road. RIP. The brand was a pioneer of cigarette cards, and their power to foster increased sales through the parallel addictive properties of collecting, and nicotine. Recently the Gentle Author of Spitalfields Life […]

20 Jul 2018

Painted Advertisements in Islington: Part 1

I am conducting a small investigation into the ghostsigns of Islington and am appealing for help from readers of this blog. The map below (view full screen) will form the basis for this, in the context of the following notes. Recently while going through old binders with some of my very early research into ghostsigns […]

4 Feb 2017

RIP: Black Cat Cigarettes

I’m often asked what is my favourite ghostsign. There are many to choose from, but, since first discovering it in 2007, the Black Cat Cigarettes sign on Dingley Road in London is the one I usually go for. When giving my Top Ten London Ghostsigns to Londonist I said this about the sign: “This is […]

13 Sep 2016

The Cat gets the Cream in this Clacton-on-Sea Reveal

[28 July 2015 – This post updated with new images and comments below] This stunning reveal in Clacton-on-Sea in Essex features three ghostsigns. In sequence these are for Ambrosia, Black Cat Cigarettes and a tea rooms, captured here by Ed Loach. Their appearance has caught the eye of many locals, with calls for their protection […]

20 Jun 2015

Black Cat Audio

Fascinating audio giving some history behind the Black Cat sign on Dingley Road, EC1.  This includes the observation that the growth of the cigarette industry in the early part of the last century was partly fuelled by the fact that soldiers fighting in the war were given fags in their rations. They then got hooked […]

27 Nov 2009

Black Cat Cigarettes

One of my personal favourites, this one is on Dingley Road, EC1. It is for an old brand of cigarettes that no longer exists.  There used to be a factory located on this site but more interesting is that Greater London House in Mornington Crescent was originally built as a factory for these cigarettes by […]

19 Jun 2007