USA

Fading Ads of St. Louis by Wm. Stage

This stunning photograph is from the cover of Wm. Stage‘s latest addition to the ghostsigns literature, ‘Fading Ads of St. Louis‘. Stage’s first book, ‘Ghost Signs‘, remains the definitive text on the topic and so it is no surprise to find his latest work full of fantastic photography and meticulous research. In this case Stage […]

3 Apr 2014

Moving Walls to Save a Ghost Sign

In an effort to save this fading and rusting shop front, Beth and Tony Walls moved the entire building 150ft to allow for a highway widening project. Martin Garfinkel of Roadside Gallery has captured it beautifully in this fine art print, available to buy here. Martin tells the story as follows. RE Ringer General Merchandise, […]

14 Mar 2014

Mirrored Ghostsign from Portland, Oregon

Following the talk at St Bride, a chain of events led to Ash at Brilliant Signs, via Stewart at McLaren Signs, sending me a copy of Letterheads Magazine from 1998. I’d expressed an interest because of the big centre spread showing lots of ghostsigns. However, on page 10 was something even better, namely this amazing […]

1 Dec 2013

Anarchy on the Walls: Ghostsigns, Street Art & Graffiti

Kasey Smith’s ‘Perception Filter‘ blog is well worth a follow for all ghostsigns enthusiasts. Her dispatches from San Francisco have been a big influence on me, as evidenced by the number of times I’ve decided to highlight her observations, insights, investigations and mapping efforts here on Ghostsigns. Her latest post concerns the work above by artist Augustine […]

27 Oct 2013

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

Sign Painters: The movie, the book and the resurgence

The Sign Painter Movie is now on tour with dates booked in until November, including Scotland and New Zealand for those outside the film’s USA base. I was treated to a preview screening and also got my hands on the book that accompanies the film. This was immensely exciting following my tracking of the project […]

28 Jul 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

It’s Alive: Gilding with Ken Davis

Ken Davis – It’s Alive from Taylor Morgan on Vimeo. Hope you enjoy this short film about the gilder Ken Davis and his piece on glass for Empire 7 Studios in San Jose, California. Find more video content on Ghostsigns.

28 Nov 2012

Sign painter tributes from Colossal Media and the Sign Painter Movie

This was new to me today, the first film from Colossal Media and a tribute to the team at Sky High Murals who execute their huge hand-painted advertising murals in the USA. Nice. (Read more Colossal Media posts.) Another tribute comes in book with the publication of ‘Sign Painters’ by Faythe Levine and Sam Macon. This […]

31 Oct 2012

Is this Lipton’s tea sign genuine, repainted, or something else?

This Lipton’s Tea sign on Frank Jump’s blog has led him to ask if it is repainted or even a modern recreation? It is in Denver Colorado and to me the borders look very unusual which might lend some support to the recreation thesis. The sign painting company (The Curran Co.) named in the bottom […]

27 Oct 2012

Anthony Quinn and the Victor Clothing Company

This huge advertising mural in Los Angeles was painted to coincide with with the Olympics in 1984. Named “The Pope of Broadway”, the mural features a local hero, the actor Anthony Quinn, and was painted by the artist Eloy Torrez. It advertises the Victor Clothing Company which moved to these premises in 1923 after being founded in […]

13 Oct 2012

Walking tours and talks with Frank Jump

A couple of treats next week for those residing in, or visiting, New York from Frank Jump, author of the excellent ‘Fading Ads of New York City’: 1. An Illustrated Lecture and Book Signing on the evening of Wednesday, 3rd October at the New York Society for Ethical Culture. 2. Two walking tours of New York’s fading […]

29 Sep 2012

Walldogs: Murals on Main Street DVD

This is one of 17 murals produced during a Walldogs ‘meet’ in Pontiac, Illinois, in the summer of 2009. These events bring together sign artists from around the world to decorate towns and cities with colourful murals. In this case it was the home of the International Walldog Mural & Sign Art Museum and a place […]

22 Sep 2012

The signpainting of Anthony Purcell

After finding this fantastic collection of Pittsburgh ghostsigns on the Steeltown Anthem blog [Link since expired] I dug a little deeper and came across another great set of photos. These, including my favourite above, celebrate the hand-painted murals and signs of Anthony Purcell. He also has his own website and this is the Steeltown Anthem home […]

15 Sep 2012

Multi-business ghostsign revealed in St. Petersburg, Texas

Fantastic reveal from St. Petersburg (Texas, not Russia). Three brands once resided in the building: Ermatinger hatters; Hayward’s toy shop; and the Wisteria confectionery company. Given the equal portion of wall space allotted to each business it is likely they split the cost of this sign three ways. It has been dated to 1929 and some […]

12 Sep 2012

Dana Forrester, ghostsigns and classic cars

Work on my book means that I haven’t been blogging as diligently as usual so this is getting back to it. Through William Stage (author of ‘Ghost Signs‘) I became acquainted with American watercolour artist Dana Forrester. Dana is an artist who uses ghostsigns in his original works, alongside a number of other artists who […]

22 Aug 2012

Walldogs, Ghost Signs and Slappy Hooper

In 2009 the Colorado Gambler published an article by Cathleen Norman called ‘Walldogs, Ghost Signs and Slappy Hooper’. It packs a surprisingly large quantity of material about the history of painting signs on walls in the USA into a very short piece. However, the opening sentence of the main body might be one for the […]

10 Aug 2012

Jim Power’s mosaics, a piece of New York history

‘Mosaic Man’ Jim Power profiled in this film showing his work on the Mosaic Trail, a Lower Manhattan art exhibit depicting the people and the history of the area and the city. Sadly many of his works were destroyed but he’s now on a mission to reinstate them. A bit off piste for this blog […]

6 Aug 2012

Perfectly preserved Coca-Cola sign revealed in restaurant renovations

This is an amazing reveal inside a restaurant in Suffolk, Virginia, showing a vintage Coca-Cola almost perfectly preserved as it would have looked when first painted. This article offers some evidence that the sign could date from the 1890s, I wonder if they’ll do something with the top portion which is presumably on the second […]

2 Aug 2012

The International Walldog Mural & Sign Art Museum

Walldog is the nickname given to those that once roamed the USA painting signs and slogans on brick walls, roadside barns and any other surface capable of providing a canvass for their advertising art. The International Walldog Mural & Sign Art Museum is a celebration of their work, located in Pontiac, Illinois, The city also houses a […]

31 Jul 2012

Eddy’s Bread ghostsign restoration in Helena

A preview of the planned restoration of this Helena ghostsign later this year with some interesting debate on preservation issues and the history of the sign itself.

30 Jul 2012

Los Angeles murals photographed by Ernest A. Long

Daniel Lohmann kindly shared the link to this archive of Los Angeles mural photography from Ernest A. Long. There is an introductory article on the Getty education blog and the collection contains 200 images, all taken between 1973 and 1883. Like London it seems that Los Angeles also has a proud tradition of mural art, I […]

28 Jul 2012

Signpainters of Detroit

Detroit blogger John Carlisle showcases some of the hand painted signs on walls from the motor city and meets the men who make them. It is interesting that many of them only use the signpainting to supplement their incomes or to support their other artistic endeavours. Note the slogan on the picture above, taken from […]

27 Jul 2012

More San Francisco Ghostsigns mapped

The latest research by Kasey Smith of the Perception Filter blog is now plotted on a map with images and research available by clicking on each marker. It’s building into quite a collection and shows at a local level part of my vision for a global mapping of hand painted advertising on buildings.

25 Jul 2012