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A ghost sign is an old hand-painted advertising sign that has been preserved on a building for an extended period of time. The sign may be kept for its
Ghost signs are found across the world with the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Canada having many surviving examples. Ghost signs are also called fading ads or brickads. In many cases these are
Fading Memories
. ''New York Times''. November 5, 2005. Retrieved on October 5, 2009.
The painters of the signs were called "wall dogs".
As signage advertising formats changed, less durable signs appeared in the later 20th century, and ghost signs from that era are less common.
Ghost signs were originally painted with oil-based house paints. The paint that has survived the test of time most likely contains lead, which keeps it strongly adhered to the masonry surface. Ghost signs were often preserved through repainting the entire sign since the colors often fade over time. When ownership changed, a new sign would be painted over the old one.
In 2013, conservators undertook an effort to preserve ghost signs in Philadelphia.
In the city of Detroit, well-preserved ghost signs have been uncovered when an adjoining building is demolished as part of the city's
File:Glasgow. Renfrew Street. Ghost sign.jpg, Renfrew Street. Glasgow (Scotland)
File:Goerlitz Fassade 1 Brautwiesenstraße.jpg, Former ''Kaffee-Ausschank'' Görlitz (Germany)
File:Pewex-reklama na budynku w Lodzi.jpg,
Ghost Signs of Louisville
– from the University of Louisville Libraries
Ghost signs from Canada & the USUK Ghost SignsGhost adverts on Heritageandhistory.comFacebook page featuring British and Irish ghost signsLiverpool Ghost Signs - The first British ghost signs book Painted signs and mosaics - A record of ghost signs from the UK, France, Germany and a few other countriesAmerican Ghosts - Ghost Signs of the United StatesDublin Ghost Signs - Capturing Dublin's history through its old and fading signs
Advertising by medium Painting Signage
nostalgic
Nostalgia is a sentimentality for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations. The word ''nostalgia'' is a learned formation of a Greek compound, consisting of (''nóstos''), meaning "homecoming", a Homeric word ...
appeal, or simply indifference by the owner.
History and preservation
Ghost signs are found across the world with the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Canada having many surviving examples. Ghost signs are also called fading ads or brickads. In many cases these are advertisement
Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...
s painted on brick that remained over time.Ghost signs: Old slogans never die in Butte...The Montana Standard
''The Montana Standard'' is a Lee Enterprises daily newspaper and website in Butte, Montana.
In 1971, under the leadership of Betty Danfield, the paper's women's section
The women's page (sometimes called home page or women's section) of a ne ...
( Butte, Montana). August 9, 2001. Accessed September 6, 2007. Old painted advertisements are occasionally discovered upon demolition of later-built adjoining structures. Throughout rural areas, old barn advertisement
A barn advertisement is an outdoor advertisement painted onto the exterior of a roadside barn. Advertisers take advantage of the barns' prominence in rural landscapes, paying their owners for the right to paint and maintain logos and slogans on ...
s continue to promote defunct brands and quaint roadside attractions.
Many ghost signs from the 1890s to 1960s are still visible. Such signs were most commonly used in the decades before the Great Depression.Joseph Berger.Fading Memories
. ''New York Times''. November 5, 2005. Retrieved on October 5, 2009.
The painters of the signs were called "wall dogs".
As signage advertising formats changed, less durable signs appeared in the later 20th century, and ghost signs from that era are less common.
Ghost signs were originally painted with oil-based house paints. The paint that has survived the test of time most likely contains lead, which keeps it strongly adhered to the masonry surface. Ghost signs were often preserved through repainting the entire sign since the colors often fade over time. When ownership changed, a new sign would be painted over the old one.
In 2013, conservators undertook an effort to preserve ghost signs in Philadelphia.
In the city of Detroit, well-preserved ghost signs have been uncovered when an adjoining building is demolished as part of the city's blight
Blight refers to a specific symptom affecting plants in response to infection by a pathogenic organism.
Description
Blight is a rapid and complete chlorosis, browning, then death of plant tissues such as leaves, branches, twigs, or floral orga ...
-fighting efforts.
Other countries
Pewex
Pewex () (short for ''Przedsiębiorstwo Eksportu Wewnętrznego'' – Internal Export Company) was a chain of hard-currency shops founded in 1972, during the Communist era in Poland that accepted payment only in United States dollars and other ...
advertisement. Łódź (Poland)
File:Biles Beans sign York 2012.jpg, Bile Beans
Bile Beans was a laxative and tonic first marketed in the 1890s. The product supposedly contained substances extracted from a hitherto unknown vegetable source by a fictitious chemist known as Charles Forde. In the early years Bile Beans were m ...
sign, York (England)
File:New York kávéház. Fortepan 2033.jpg, Former ''Kaffee-New York'', Transylvania (Romania)
File:Anciennes publicités murales superposées formant un palimpseste, Avenue Pasteur, Paris.jpg, Old advertisements forming a " palimpsest", Paris (France)
File:Launceston D Ritchie & Son Millers Ghost Sign.JPG, ''David Ritchie & Son. Millers''. Launceston, Tasmania
Launceston () or () is a city in the north of Tasmania, Australia, at the confluence of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River (kanamaluka). As of 2021, Launceston has a population of 87,645. Material was copie ...
See also
* Palimpsest * Privilege sign *Signwriter
Signwriters design, manufacture and install signs, including advertising signs for shops, businesses and public facilities as well as signs for transport systems.
Signwriting today
Traditional signwriters use methods closely related to th ...
References
Further reading
Ghost Signs of Louisville
– from the University of Louisville Libraries
External links
{{Commons category-inlineGhost signs from Canada & the US
Advertising by medium Painting Signage