USA
-
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 […]
-
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 […]
-
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 […]
-
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 […]
-
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 […]
-
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 […]