Ghostsigns

Fading Ads of Birmingham by Charles Buchanan and Jonathan Purvis

Birmingham, Alabama, is the location for this addition to the ghostsigns literature from resident advertising expert and artist Charles Buchanan. For a city founded as recently as 1871 there is a rich history found on its walls, one that Buchanan has diligently researched and which Jonathan Purvis has captured photographically. Following a general overview of […]

11 Aug 2013

Faux ghostsigns, authenticity and the passage of time: Guest post from Best Dressed Signs

‘Faux’ ghostsigns are a relatively new phenomenon but are appearing with increasing frequency around the world. I invited Meredith Kasabian, of Boston’s Best Dressed Signs and The Pre-Vinylite Society, to share her thoughts given her and Josh Luke’s recent work on the example above. Several months ago, Josh and I received a request to paint […]

21 Jul 2013

Public lettering walk with Phil Baines and Catherine Dixon

Yesterday I had the pleasure of joining Phil Baines and Catherine Dixon on their latest Public Lettering walk, organised through the excellent St Bride Library events programme. As with my earlier walking tour in this part of London (Type Tour West) it started at the library but then took a different route to weave through Smithfield before […]

24 May 2013

Local Listed Status for Hackney Ghost Signs

Love Local Landmarks, an English Heritage-backed project, has been successful in gaining local listing status for two of Hackney’s most famous ghostsigns. The Blooms Piano sign (above) and the Waterman’s Fountain Pen sign on Stoke Newington Church Street have both been recognised for their “Aesthetic or Artistic” merit, and also for their historical significance. The […]

12 May 2013

Following Ghostsigns and a New Mailing List

I’ve just set up a new mailing list for Ghostsigns as part of the overall update to the site. You can sign up here or by entering your email address in the side panel to the right. This mailing list will be used to send out occasional emails and perhaps a newsletter in the future. […]

22 Jul 2012

Astronomical charts and calculations on 9th Century Mayan wall paintings

This article discusses the recent discovery of these wall paintings in Guatemala dating from AD814.  More images in this guided tour of the site.  See also this past post on the walls of Pompeii.

24 Jun 2012

Five years of Ghostsigns and a new website

Today is the 5th birthday of this blog following the first ever post on 16th June 2007.  In that time, including my stints on blogger, google sites and posterous, I have uploaded 415 posts, an average of seven per month. As a birthday present I have upgraded the site to a hosted WordPress content management […]

16 Jun 2012

The ‘Books of Clio’ is a great blog for ghostsigns in France

I’ve just started to follow this blog which is regularly throwing up interesting material.  Above and below are three of my favourites from the last couple of months (from here, here and here), the first for the interesting arrow shape, the Zanussi one because I’ve never seen a washing machine brand advertised in this way […]

12 Jun 2012

The Partial Repainting of F.C. Dyson Provisions & Groceries, Stoke Newington

While back in the UK recently I spotted this while strolling around in my old Stoke Newington stomping ground.  Those familiar with the site as it once was will have some sense of what they’re trying to do here.  I’m guessing the primary motivation is the removal of the graffiti covering the old ghostsign that […]

9 Jun 2012

The stories behind some of the intriguing ghostsigns of Clapham and Battersea

A few years ago I spoke with Russell Norris who, at the time, was writing an article on ghostsigns for  a local free circular publication in South London.  Like him I was waiting for its eventual publication which never came until this week when Russell took matters into his own hands and published it on […]

6 Jun 2012

Then and now: shopfronts 1988 revisited

Via this review of the East End shopfronts exhibition happening now in Tower Hamlets, I came across this incredible site which is the work of Lady Lamo and her colleague Alabama.  It retraces the steps that Alan Dein took in 1988 and documents what has become of the shops he photographed.  The result is absolutely […]

3 Jun 2012

William Stage investigates some of the ghostsigns of St Louis ahead of forthcoming book

Photo: William Stage This article offers a preview of some of the material that is lined up for the forthcoming book, Ghost Signs of St Louis.  I’m very honoured to have been invited by William Stage to write a forward to this follow up to the definitive ghostsigns book and the postcard book from last […]

22 May 2012

East End shop fronts exhibition profiled on Spitalfields Life

Photo: Alan Dein Interview with Alan Dein and more preview images of this exhibition on the Spitalfiends Life blog.

21 May 2012

The price of Coke in America remained unchanged for over 70 years

Photo: MOLLYBLOCK The 5c price shown in the picture above only helps to place this sign in the 1886-1959 bracket.  This research attempts to explain why this happened, with the resulting difficulty of using price as a dating tool for Coca-Cola ghostsigns in the USA.

19 May 2012

Hand painted McDonald’s signs, a first for me

Photo: Kasey Smith Everyone is familiar with hand painted signs for Coca-cola but these are new to me.  Some more pictures and an interesting commentary over on the Perception Filter blog.

15 May 2012

Australian ghostsigns profiled in this 2008 Stephen Banham article

Photo: Stephen Banham (Makes me want some Monty Leisurewear!) Full article here mainly focused on the hide and seek nature of many ghostsigns, including this line which echoes mine and Sebastian Groes’ urging against nostalgia: Instead of feeling mournful about the demise or entombing of these letterforms, perhaps we should embrace the dynamics of the ever-changing […]

14 May 2012

New book charting hand painted advertising on walls in the Netherlands

Writing on the Wall (my article about them here) are publishing a book which I’m very excited about.  Details on the pdf below for those who read Dutch, otherwise try Google Translate with a copy and paste of the text for an approximate translation.  It is priced at 29.95euros and order enquiries should be sent […]

13 May 2012

Melbourne’s signage in beautiful book form

Characters by Stephen Banham looks to be one of the must have new books on signage and public lettering.  It is high on my want list after reading this review sent to me by Geraldine of Birmingham Graphic DNA and this review picked up by Faythe of The Sign Painter Movie.  There is an accompanying […]

12 May 2012

Guided tour of hand painted advertising on walls in Utrecht, 11th May

It may be too late to book but for those in the Utrecht area this (pdf flyer) looks to be an informative tour of the city’s historic wall advertising.  (Organised by Writing on the Wall.)

10 May 2012

Two signs from The Hague sent to me by Martin Percival

Martin kindly sent me these that he took in The Hague. They are restoration jobs, details of the black and white one here [Link expired] and more on another organisation working on preservation in the Netherlands here.

9 May 2012

Rain reveals Mazawattee Tea ghostsign at Sydenham station (via @DrMatthewSweet)

Photo: Dr Matthew Sweet Evidence of the weather revealing what might otherwise be hidden.  I’m sure I’ve seen a Mazawattee Tea sign elsewhere, perhaps with an illustration of some sort, any leads welcome in the comments…

6 May 2012

A lesser known rival to Pepsi and Coke in Amsterdam (via @FadingAd)

Photo: Frank Jump I like this sign from the Fading Ad blog, looks like it may have been repainted, perhaps by these guys.

29 Apr 2012

Great Middlesbrough ghostsigns

Photo: Caroline Derry Some great discoveries over on Caroline’s blog.

28 Apr 2012

Weathering in Idaho leads to reveal of c.100 year old ghostsign

Photo: Roger Plothow This treasure has just been uncovered, more background on Roger’s blog [Link since expired].  It’s an interesting case of the weather working to ‘save’ a sign rather than eroding it.

27 Apr 2012