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Ghostsigns has moved @ghostsigns.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 29/09/2024

Dropping just in time for Halloween: a brand new category of ghost sign! "Baby on store sign in Japan turns into horrifying ‘ghost’ after ink melts in extreme heat." mustsharenews.com/baby-ghost-store-… #ghostsigns #Halloween #baby #japan

Side-by-side photos showing an advertisement with a baby's head and a speech bubble. The picture on the left is normal, whereas the one on the right shows a scary visage with distortions to the original picture caused by the effect of heat on the plastic used for the sign.

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Ghostsigns has moved @ghostsigns.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 26/09/2024

I''ll be dusting off my winter tour guide persona for a Stoke Newington Ghostsigns Walk on Sunday 22 December. Please tell your friends/boost this post, and visit ghostsigns.co.uk/tours where tickets and signed copies of our book are available 😊 […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Torso and head of a man in a winter jacket, woolly hat and gloves. He's looking to his left, smiling, and gesturing with his right hand.

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Ghostsigns has moved @ghostsigns.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 19/09/2024

Now you see me, now you don't: this London ghost sign was revealed for a matter of hours yesterday as a decorator carried out some external repairs on the building. Thank you Nina Harrison for snapping the photo in this tiny window of opportunity. I'm […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Close up of a portion of plastered exterior wall. A randomly shapted section of the plaster has been removed, beneath which there are fading painted letters visible in black on a yellow-brown base.

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Ghostsigns has moved @ghostsigns.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 31/08/2024

Has anyone seen one of these before? Someone bought it on ebay and has asked if there's a connection to the Peterkin ghost sign documented in our book, and here on my blog […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

A cast metal figurine on a base. The base has lettering that reads "Peterkin Products" and the figurine is of a clogged Dutch boy in baggy trousers with hands in pockets. He's looking up/into the far distance, and wearing a large baker/fez-style hay.

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Ghostsigns has moved @ghostsigns.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 28/08/2024

A fading fascia being revealed today at 110 Green Lanes, London N16: 'Perfection Fish Bar'. #ghostsigns #shopfront #perfection #fish #GreenLanes #London #N16 #signs

Workers standing in front of a terraced building with a shop on the ground floor. A ladder is also visible, and windows and doors have been removed from the shopfront. Above this is an old fascia sign with 'perfection' in black across most of its width, flanked by 'fish' (left) and 'bar' (right) in red.

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Ghostsigns has moved @ghostsigns.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 20/08/2024

En route to London, and looking forward to this weekend's walk in Stoke Newington. I still have a couple of tickets for Saturday morning, so please join us and/or boost — 😃 — to let your friends and followers know. ghostsigns.co.uk/tours Pictured […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Fading painted sign on a wall. There are two layers of black lettering on the light background, with the most visible being 'John Hawkins & Sons Ltd, cotton spinners & manufacturers'.

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Ghostsigns has moved @ghostsigns.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 19/08/2024

Little photo dump of signs in Mons-la-Trivalle, Hérault, France, near where I've been coming for holidays since around 1990. #signs #ghostsigns #NoEntry #boules #Pétanque #LaPoste #Mons #LaTrivalle #Herault #France

Stencilled sign board mounted on a wall made with large stones. The sign is faded and weather-worn with black text on white that reads 'reserve la poste'.

A DIY no entry sign mounted on a green gate. The red brushstrokes are clearly visible.

Painted sign mounted on a stucco wall. It consists of a wreath tied at the bottom with a yellow bow and with two boules used for Pétanque set in the middle. A blue banner straddles the upper part of the wreath with simple painted white lettering that reads 'boules des gorges'. Below this is a third boule with 'la pétanque' in smaller white lettering.

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Ghostsigns has moved @ghostsigns.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 17/08/2024

The lettering on this French ghost sign reminded me of this other garage sign on the @blag site: bl.ag/chain-letter-etiennerenard. Does anyone know what it's called and/or if it derives from a particular typeface? Garage, Le Poujol-sur-Orb […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Garage door with fading letters painted on the stucco above reading 'garage'.

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Ghostsigns has moved @ghostsigns.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 11/08/2024

This Suze ghost sign was partially covered by a mounted sign board the last time I passed it, so it was nice to see it in full yesterday. There's more about the Suze brand, and lots more of their ghost signs, on this excellent website […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

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Ghostsigns has moved @ghostsigns.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 06/08/2024

I'm mostly hanging out about 1 km from here for the next couple of weeks. #holiday #vacation #France

Rural French location with a simple painted sign on a wall that says "Gorges d'Heric" and then has "1 km" set in an arrow that points to the right

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Ghostsigns has moved @ghostsigns.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 29/07/2024

From regular correspondent, Wayne Tanswell Signwriter, the many and varied services of E.F. Andrews, Felixstowe, Suffolk. E.F. Andrews Decorator, Plumber & Sanitary Engineer Building & General Repairs Rathbone Furnishing Stores 136 Hamilton Rd, Felixstowe […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Fading painted sign filling the upper portion of a gable end wall.

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Ghostsigns has moved @ghostsigns.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 26/07/2024

Newsletter subscribers check your inbox/spam folder for today's despatch, which contains this correction to our book, Ghost Signs: A London Story. 'X Doesn’t Mark the Spot: Revisiting an Islington Ghost Sign' […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Brick wall with a stucco panel set within a scalloped molded border. There is a fading painted sign on the panel which is more visible on the rightmost two thirds due to the leftmost third having a coat of blue paint over it. The text on this sign is "Nazalia, Day & Night Cure for Catarrh & Colds in the Head. Prevents Influenza. Certain, Simple & Inexpensive."

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Ghostsigns has moved @ghostsigns.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 15/07/2024

What's the missing word on this London ghost sign? @RoyReed recently got some better pictures than mine from the book, but we're stuck on the last line. "___ Simple & Inexpensive" I think I can see one of C/G/O as the first letter, and that the word ends […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Closer crop into the sign from the previous photo showing the portion with the missing word on the last line.

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Ghostsigns has moved @ghostsigns.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 03/07/2024

Here's a few minutes of podcast digging into the stories behind some of York's ghost signs: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0j5mrh0 Pictured is the one for John Smith's Magnet Ales, photographed in 2009 by Ken Pitcher for the History of Advertising Trust […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Cars parked in front of an end-of-terrace building. In the upper left quarter of the brickwork is a fading painted sign with white lettering out of green that reads "John Smith's Magnet Ales". This advertisement is illustrated with a stereotypical c-shaped magnet with red curve and silver ends.

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Ghostsigns has moved @ghostsigns.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 02/07/2024

'Ghost signs make final appearance during Casper building demolition' on Oil City News: oilcity.news/community/city/2024/06… That's here in Casper, Wyoming […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Upper portion of a wall with bricks underneath being revealed by the removal of a covering stucco. On the bricks are fading painted letters, with 'TRANS' visible.

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Ghostsigns has moved @ghostsigns.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 30/06/2024

This text from Frank Jump's Fading Ads of New York City (2011) throws some doubt on the provenance of the signs. Transcription in the alt text over this and the subsequent post. So, perhaps 'faux': ghostsigns.co.uk/tag/faux More on Frank's book […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

This beauty of a sign remains one of the best untouched ads in New York City. Just a few blocks north of Ground Zero, this TriBeCa treasure is perhaps a remnant of an early home improvement and office supplies campaign. Or is it? The style of this ad, with the block font and shading, is indicative of the 1910 style of ads. But most of the ads I've documented from this period, especially the ones facing south or west toward the blazing sun, have faded beyond recognition. As much as I wanted this to be an authentic ad, I've always been dubious. In a May 2009 blog posting, Jeremiah Moss of Jeremiah's Vanishing New York made the following observations:

[Go to next post for the rest]

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Ghostsigns has moved @ghostsigns.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 26/06/2024

Monster High at Ocio Aventura Sitges. According to Wikipedia, this logotype was introduced in 2016. That means this reproduction has faded extremely quickly, assuming it was fully opaque to begin with. #MonsterHigh #Mattel #ghostsigns #sitges

Side of a building with a fading painted Monster High logotype with a skull between the two words. The yellowish colour of the building contrasts with the bright blue sky above.

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Ghostsigns has moved @ghostsigns.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 22/06/2024

Caught in the act: a fascia sign reveal taking place in Llandudno, North Wales, last summer. It also shows the lengths that people will go to to mount bigger signs than were intended by the architects. In 1939 the Nobletts confectioners were here, later […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

An estate agents shop with various properties displayed in the windows. Above these is a hand-painted fascia sign for a former occupant, a confectioner called The Mayfair. A wooden structure has been erected over this which at one time allowed a larger sign to be mounted, but only its supports remain, making the older sign visible beneath.

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Ghostsigns has moved @ghostsigns.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 20/06/2024

This wall sign for the Rawles butchers was originally designed and painted by George Biles in Bridport, Dorset. (This signwriter, RIP, is profiled on today's @blag post at bl.ag/biles.) The sign has since been repainted on at least two occasions […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

A sign painted on a wall advertising the Rawles butchers. A picture of a cow and a pastoral scene is in the middle, under the name, with lettering in two lines on the bottom that reads "purveyors of high quality meats".

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Ghostsigns has moved @ghostsigns.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 20/06/2024

Almost two years ago I wrote about two remakable ghost signs unearthed in Chicago: ghostsigns.co.uk/2022/08/chicago-gh… This is one of them, shown here in its new home at the American Sign Museum in Cincinnati. The […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

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Ghostsigns has moved @ghostsigns.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 12/06/2024

I have four tickets left for my Stoke Newington Ghostsigns Walk in London on 24 August. Visit ghostsigns.co.uk/tours to get one (or more), or to take the tour digitally/remotely. This is a photo of me […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Sepia photo of a smiling man standing in front of a building with fading painted letters advertising 'Fount Pens Repaired' and the 'Waterman's Ideal Fountain Pen'.

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Ghostsigns has moved @ghostsigns.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 11/06/2024

New on the Ghostsigns blog, 'Brain’s Honest Ale: Lost But Not Forgotten in Cardiff'. Visit ghostsigns.co.uk/2024/06/brains-hon…. This was fun to go back to after not thinking about this wonderful ghost […]

A fading painted sign that depicts a street scene in shades of brown and cream. The focus of this is a large wall advertisement for 'Brain's Honest Ale'. In front of this is a dog that has just had a crate of the ale itself dropped on its tail, and is yelping in pain as it looks at the advertisement.

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Ghostsigns has moved @ghostsigns.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 11/06/2024

A good example of paint drying out, cracking, and falling off the wall at Harwich's Alma Inn. "The Alma Inn and Dining Rooms has been at the centre of Harwich life since the 1850s serving ale to the citizens, sailors, soldiers and farmers of the wind […]

A hand-painted sign with scalloped corners on a brick wall. The blue background has fallen off in places, but the light yellow lettering can still be read: "The Alma Inn, Traditional Ales, Beer Garden".

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Ghostsigns has moved @ghostsigns.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 06/06/2024

New on the Ghostsigns blog, 'W.E. Baxter: A Beautiful Palimpsest in Lewes, Sussex'. ghostsigns.co.uk/2024/06/w-e-baxter… Layers of lettering in Lewes, advertising the W.E. Baxter printers, bookbinders, and stationers. Photo: David Quay. #ghostsigns…

Painted wall sign in gold lettering on a dark green background. It reads: "W.E. Baxter Ld., Printers. Bookbinders. Stationers, Order Office, Door on Right". Below this are traces of lettering from an earlier iteration of the sign that are becoming visible as the green background fades.

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Ghostsigns has moved @ghostsigns.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 03/06/2024

This is my kind of unsolicited email 😊 There's nothing quite like that feeling of knowing that something you've done has impacted someone. And you only find out when they decide to tell you. So thank you Henry. The book he's talking about is Ghost Signs: A London Story, which I co-authored with…

Screenshot of an email that reads:

Hello, Sam--

As a longtime (American) journalist who's lived in London for the past 15 years (Clapham for the last 10), I've always found ghost signs fascinating and thought, "That would make for a great coffee table book -- I'd love to do that!"

Then my partner bought "Ghost Signs: A London Story" for me several months ago, and while I was crestfallen at first to have been beaten to the punch, my disappointment turned to admiration as I went through your fascinating book cover to cover. I'd only been thinking of doing a coffee table book filled with high-quality photos and some captions, but your book was so much more informative and enlightening than that. (I especially like the reconstructions of very faded signs. I've also done your Clapham walking tour, which was very enjoyable.)

So I just wanted to drop you a line to congratulate and compliment you on such an excellent and thoughtful piece of work. Kudos!

Best,

Henry Chu

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Ghostsigns has moved @ghostsigns.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 27/05/2024

Here's one of the photos by @RoyReed that is in the Nestlé section of the 'Branding the City' chapter of our book: ghostsigns.co.uk/book. I also shared a bit about the sign on this @blag article, and have included some of that in the alt text for this image: bl.ag/listen-to-the-wal…

The gable end of a tall London brick end-terrace building. It shows various layers of fading painted signage advertising Nestlé and Boro.

Nestlé | Boro
Killyon Road (corner of Wandsworth Road) SW8

This is one of the bonus stops on the (free) Clapham Ghostsigns Walk, and is one of my favourite London ghost signs.

There are two layers of Nestlé signage on this wall, with the slogan on one dating it to the early 1920s. This is noteworthy for its explicit endorsement of breastfeeding – in the 1970s, the company was widely condemned for aggressively marketing its formula to mothers in the developing world.

A third sign on the wall, for the billposting company Boro, sought customers to advertise on the wall. They, or a subsequent contractor, later installed billboards on the building, the last of which was removed in around 2015.

At the very top of the wall there is then another trace of Boro's advertising in the form of a very faded panel boasting of their 10,000 advertising sites.

Boro (Borough Billposting Company) was once a major outdoor advertising broker. Their painted details can be found on other London ghost signs and an account of the firm’s history is included in our book, Ghost Signs: A London Story.

Photo: Roy Reed

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Ghostsigns has moved @ghostsigns.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 27/05/2024

Recently @RoyReed alerted me to a faded panel above the Nestlé/Boro palimpsest in Clapham. It boasts of the 10,000 advertising sites managed by the Boro firm, which is profiled in the 'Sign Economics' chapter of our book: ghostsigns.co.uk/book. I made a short presentation about the firm w…

Apex of a brick gable end with clear blue sky behind. Set on the bricks is a small horizontal rectangle which is the remains of a hand-painted sign. With white text on a black background, the faded words can just be made out as 'Boro, 10,000 Sites'.

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Ghostsigns has moved @ghostsigns.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 26/05/2024

This sign is in the passage that once led to stabling at Whitby's White Horse & Griffin. There's a brief history of the inn/pub and its claims to fame here: whitehorseandgriffin.com/hotel/our-…. Looking on streetview (2009), there's also a lovely reverse glass gilded fascia sign nex…

Fading painted sign with yellow lettering on a black background. It reads 'White Horse Hotel, fully licensed, good stabling, smoke & club rooms'. At the end of the last line is a manicule (pointing hand) pointing to the right towards the stabling that was once at the end of the passageway that the sign is located in.

Shopfront with a reverse glass gilded fascia sign. It is set on a green background and reads 'Ev. Agar & Son, Decorators'.

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Ghostsigns has moved @ghostsigns.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 17/05/2024

That said, I do point out a similar remnant for Barclays Bank on my Stoke Newington Ghostsigns Walk (ghostsigns.co.uk/tours) and have a 1950s photo that shows the mounted brass letters in situ. Although he also includes fading painted signs and old neon, Tom Koch's book, Ghostletters Vienn…

A portion of a stone frontage to a shop that shows traces of mounted letters that have been removed. While the letters were in situ, they prevented the grey stone around them from getting dirty. They read 'bank' in Roman capitals.

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Ghostsigns has moved @ghostsigns.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 17/05/2024

This photo by Matt Crossick/PA is used to illustrate an article about high street bank closures in the UK (link below). The 'ghost' here is created by the removal of mounted letters that prevented the stone beneath from becoming dirty like the areas surrounding them. By my definition (fading…

The word 'bank' in slab serifed letters in slightly cleaner portions of grey stone than those in the spaces surrounding the letters.

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Ghostsigns has moved @ghostsigns.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 11/05/2024

My only in-person walking tour for 2024 is in Stoke Newington on Saturday, 24 August. I am excited to get back on the street to introduce guests to the wonderful ghost signs in the area that I first started documenting and researching these remnants of advertising past. More details and tickets…

Man in a short-sleeved brown shirt and sunglasses talking in front of a wall that has the fading remains of a painted sign on it.

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Ghostsigns has moved @ghostsigns.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 09/05/2024

Can any French speakers tell if this was a former painter-decorator/sign painter, or a supplier to the trade? 'Beaumont, Dorure, Decors, Laque, Decapage' A popular translation app gives this as: Beaumont, Gilding, Decorations, Lacquer, Stripping. 41 Rue de la Roquette, Paris Streetview…

Beautifully aged fascia sign with block letters painted in golden yellow with a block and cast shade on a faded blue background. The largest of these letters fill the central portion of the sign, and are almost the full height of it too, reading 'Beaumont'. Then, flanking this, are two pairs of words, one arching up, the other down. They read 'dorure, decors' on the left and 'laque, decapage' on the right.

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