Fading Fascias

J.C. Rogers’ Beautiful Fading Fascia in Penzance

A surviving fading fascia for the J.C. Rogers butchers is a real treat in a classic style. Photos: Jon Herbert.

5 Apr 2024
Harry Green’s Modesty Preserved by Michelle ‘Fashions’

Fading fascia revealed in Essex after failed attempt by Michelle ‘Fashions’ to rebrand as Fifty Ways. It was once Harry Green’s tobacco and cigarette shop.

28 Jun 2021
Save Our Signs: Bath’s Rapid Response Unit

A palimpsest of fading fascias saved by a keen-eyed signwriter in Bath.

24 May 2021
The Curious Case of Two French Milliners

Two almost identical painted shopfronts for French Milliners, just two miles about, raise questions about chronology and authenticity.

3 May 2021
Uncovered Signs in Shanghai, New Book from The Type

Preview of Uncovered Signs in Shanghai which documents briefly revealed hand-painted shopfronts and other signs from the Chinese city.

29 Mar 2021
Glasgow’s Ghost Signs Through the Lens of Stuart Neville

Stuart Neville has been documenting Glasgow’s ghost signs since 2007. His collection serves as a record of these changes.

15 Mar 2021
New Developments in the Case of E. Mono on Kentish Town Road

Additional painted fascia revealed at E. Mono, but then both covered by new mounted signage.

2 Nov 2020
Ghost Signs for Sale Raise Ethical Questions

Review of signs from architectural salvage that end up for sale on interior decoration marketplaces, and associated issues, including ‘faux’ ghost signs.

5 Oct 2020
S. Sadler, Brick Lane

This beautiful glass fascia was captured by Brian Heppell after being revealed briefly in 2014 during the fitting of new signage at 192 Brick Lane, London E1. I have looked for S. Sadler by name in the trades section of a number of Victorian and early 20th Century street directories but nothing has come up. […]

17 Nov 2017
The Vacuum Shop and George Braun

Guests on my Stoke Newington Ghostsigns Walk in early 2015 were lucky to see a bonus fading fascia en route, advertising The Vacuum Shop. This was revealed by works to the Anglo Asian restaurant, which now straddles numbers 60 and 62 Stoke Newington Church Street. Ben Selig was the proprietor of an “electrical appliances” shop […]

15 Apr 2017
Quernmore Road Signs & Ghostsigns Cluster

Above is my 2007 photo of the Brymay/John Bull palimpsest on Quernmore Road in Haringey. At the time, in addition to wondering who John Bull was, I said I needed to go back in the winter when the tree would be less obstructive. I did so a couple of weeks ago, as part of my […]

25 Mar 2017
East End Shops from Spitalfields Life

Spitalfields Life has published a series of pieces documenting East End shop fronts, in support of the campaign against the forthcoming rise in business rates across the area. I have picked one photo from each piece and would encourage a proper browse of all of them. Fascinating stuff! Alan Dein’s East End Shops John Claridge’s […]

4 Mar 2017
More Glasgow Ghostsigns

In July I headed to Glasgow to deliver a workshop, screening and talk for the Merchant City Festival. (A write-up of what happened can be found over on the Better Letters blog.) While there I got to see lots of new ghostsigns, and other forms of historic and noteworthy signage, much of which I collated into my […]

23 Sep 2016
Ghost Letters of Vienna

Ghost Letters of Vienna is a project to photographically document the wide range of fading fascias, and other forms of redundant lettering, on buildings in the Austrian capital. I met with the project leader, Tom Koch, during his recent visit to London, and have offered a Ghostsigns Walking Tour as one of the prizes in […]

18 May 2016
RIP: Signwriters – Gilding & Pictorial Artists

This beautiful gilded script once marked the home of Ambridge Signs. When they left the premises the sign didn’t come with them and, until last month, it provided a reminder of the area’s signwriting heritage. It was situated on this unassuming building at the end of a terrace on Southgate Road, De Beauvoir, but has now […]

21 Mar 2015
J.R. Brewer, the Butcher

I’d always noticed number 77 Shacklewell Lane because of the ghostsign below. Although very faint, I always thought it advertised a business called/run by Grime. However, as we’ll see below, this word was in fact ‘Prime’. Below this was a blacked out shop fascia, overlooking the bus stop. Back in January I was cycling past […]

8 Mar 2015
E. Mono in North London

Back in 2011 an old 1920s shop fascia was revealed on Kentish Town High Street. The nature of the E.Mono business remains a mystery but the new occupants, a kebab shop, decided the sign was worth keeping and named their shop after the historic proprietors. (Andrew Whitehead has written detailed pieces on the reveal on […]

28 Feb 2015
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 […]

30 Jul 2014
W.A.Higgs & Co: A Stoke Newington Beauty

Walking past Tatreez, the Palestinian restaurant, I spotted this beautiful Victorian sign on the inside. It is clearly a shop fascia which got me wondering why it isn’t on the front? I did some digging at the Hackney Archives and found out that W.A.Higgs & Co. was an importer of tea. They had premises at […]

21 May 2014
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 […]

2 May 2014