History of Advertising Trust

Scales, Weights & Weighing Machines in London’s Kings Cross

This popular London ghostsign is located at the Kings Cross end of Gray’s Inn Road, with the photo above from Jennifer Pedler and the History of Advertising Trust. A couple of years ago I gave a talk at Middlesex University where one of the students, Mariana Messaggi, was researching the origins of the company as […]

11 Mar 2017

When Daren Became Hovis: A Bizarre Ghostsigns ‘Restoration’

‘Ask for Daren Bread’ was once the simple slogan on this ghostsign on Avignon Road, London, SE4. The above image was taken by Lisa Edwards in 2007, sourced here in the History of Advertising Trust Ghostsigns Archive. The site was likely a former bakery, sourcing its flour from the mills on the river Darent in […]

7 Jan 2017

Puck Matches: Archival Photo of a Gable End

This fascinating archival image is part of a larger collection of outdoor advertising captured photographically in the early 1930s and donated to the History of Advertising Trust (HAT) by Alan Bristow. This particular gable end in Pendleton features a painted sign advertising Puck Matches, which was once a Bryant & May brand. Both Puck and […]

9 Oct 2014