UK

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

Born and Raised from David A Smith, John Mayer and Danny Cooke

This has left me speechless. Sublime. Ridiculous. Unbelievable. Thank you to David, John and Danny for bringing the story of this piece of work to life through film. An incredible follow up to the last one.

19 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

Housefront Coronation Mural Uncovered

Here is John Shaw in Burton scraping the final bit of paint off the front of his house which revealed this home-made mural from 1953 celebrating the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. A bit more about the discovery in this article from the Burton Mail [Link expired].

12 Dec 2012

Ghost graffiti

The captions say it all really, note that the graffiti and the building it is on have both lasted longer than the enormous block of flats in the background. Found via Robert Lambie on uksignboards.com.

8 Dec 2012

Liverpool Ghost Signs by Caroline and Phil Bunford

Today sees the publication of the UK’s first ghostsigns book. Liverpool Ghost Signs by Caroline and Phil Bunford is “a sideways look at the city’s advertising history” and features over 150 images of fading, crumbling and disused signage. Caroline and Phil were almost single-handedly responsible for the material from Liverpool in the History of Advertising […]

15 Nov 2012

Brymay Reveal from West Norwood

You win some, you lose some and Caroline has definitely found a winner with this fantastic Brymay matches reveal in West Norwood. It is part of a wider campaign by the Bryant & May company, as can be seen by the other examples of their advertising in the History of Advertising Trust Ghostsigns Archive. In […]

24 Oct 2012

RIP: Midford Fox

This photo from the early 1900s comes from the Akeman Press Archive and shows a family posing with their car outside this former tavern in Midford, Somerset. Kirsten Elliott from Akeman informs me that the last remains of the sign have now been rendered and painted over, making this a recent addition to the growing […]

10 Oct 2012

HAT Ghostsigns Archive upgrade

The Ghostsigns Archive has been updated as part of the wider upgrade to the History of Advertising Trust website. There are not only more photos available but also a new search function which allows you to browse just the ghostsigns pages. This is not the main site search but the one pictured above immediately before […]

3 Oct 2012

Was Walter Kershaw “Britain’s first graffiti artist”?

This question gets some coverage on the Guardian in this article about the Rochdale-born artist who rubbed councils up the wrong way in creating his artworks in the North of England. You can learn more about the man and his work, including various global assignments, on the Walter Kershaw website [Link expired]. There is also […]

26 Sep 2012

Lyndsey Smith and the signs of Bath and Lewes

The Circulating Library sign from Bath is certainly one of the most popular and regularly photographed ghostsigns in the UK [See comments on this post for some more on this sign]. However, this is the first time I’ve seen it appear in watercolour. This painting by Lyndsey Smith was the runner up in the Bath […]

5 Sep 2012

Two brilliant ghostsigns from Bath

I was recently interviewed by Kirsten Elliott of Akeman Press for an article in a forthcoming magazine launch scheduled for later this year. We’ve since been in email contact as a result of our shared interest in ghostsigns and those from Bath in particular. (Regular readers will remember my little photo essay of a visit […]

5 Aug 2012

Ghostsigns in ‘Down Your Way’ magazine

Yorkshire is the focus for this three page spread on ghostsigns in Down Your Way magazine from earlier this year.  Thank you to Mark Whitley of Country Publications for allowing me to republish this piece here.

10 Jul 2012

Faux ghostsigns

Sometimes hand painted signs on buildings are created to look old and weathered intentionally.  The example pictured (original photo on Flickr) was produced in 2003 for the Disney film, ‘Miracle’.  (Does anyone have a clip showing where and how it features in the film?)  Another Disney example is this sign for the ‘New Orleans Trading […]

1 Jul 2012

Film director Danny Cooke profiles David A Smith, an artist and master craftsman of exceptional talent

This fantastic short documentary by Danny Cooke pays homage to the extraordinary work of David A Smith who plies his trade in Torquay on the Devon coast.  David’s website refers to him as a “traditional ornamental glass artist”but it is clear from this film that his talents extend far beyond glass work.I caught up with the […]

8 Jun 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

Great Middlesbrough ghostsigns

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

28 Apr 2012

Will Bristol Ban Outdoor Advertising?

This article highlights a petition to ban outdoor advertising in Bristol which, if successful, would mean it joins Auckland and Sao Paolo among others.  This Howard Gossage article offers perhaps one of the most compelling critiques of the outdoor format

26 Apr 2012

Uncertain future for the ‘Polo Tower’ in Morcombe (via @willsh)

I’d never seen this unique piece of hand painted advertising until I came across the picture and dim appraisal of the town on John’s blog.  I’m pretty sure it must be hand painted but correct me if I’m wrong.  Regardless, a bizarre contractual situation has ensured its survival to this day, despite the closure of […]

22 Apr 2012

Walls by Deidi von Schaewen

Deidi von Schaewen’s ‘Walls’ is a lovely hardback book that documents hand painted advertising on walls in the 1960s and 1970s.  It’s geographical coverage is noteworthy with examples from Berlin, London, New York, Paris and elsewhere in France.  Most of the photography is in black and white with a handful of colour images, all of […]

11 Apr 2012

Graphic DNA documents the visual language of the street

I’ve recently been in regular contact with Geraldine Marshall whose project, Graphic DNA, caught my attention.  It is the topic of her PhD thesis, under the supervision of Dr Caroline Archer.  I took the opportunity, before she gets too busy, to ask Geraldine some questions at her base in the Midlands, from mine in South […]

25 Mar 2012

Parkinsons Pills signs from across the UK: ‘They will buck you up’!

This is a great set of photos for the Parkinsons Pills brand from a site dedicated to the company.  A couple of these appear in the archive but the others are new to me, including one where the photographer claims to have got bored part way through restoring it.  A follow up post reveals this […]

23 Mar 2012

HAT Archive: January 2012 Additions

A number of new additions have been made to the History of Advertising Trust Ghostsigns Archive.  Some of these are new photos of signs already covered in the archive but many are completely new material for the collection.  Here are a handful of my favourite new additions, the rest can be found by searching for […]

31 Jan 2012

Belgravia Ghost Sign Restored

Before (2006/7) After News in this week is that a restoration effort has been undertaken in the heart of London’s Belgravia.  It has been directed at what was once a very faded sign for a horse infirmary (see two more of my pictures from c.2006/7 below).  It was instigated by Belgravia Garage, as the infirmary sign […]

15 Jan 2012