The Enduring Legacy of the Joshua Brothers Distillery
Pickles Street in Melbourne was once home to the Joshua Brothers Distillery, and later United Distillers. The latter adorned the building with a series of … Read more
Bovril’s Windrush Square Legacy
Windrush Square in Brixton is home to this, one of the most famous ghost signs in London. While the Bovril sign is still very prominent, … Read more
The Grand Exhibition of the Society of Sign Painters
The following article is re-posted from the original on Better Letters. This August we’ll be opening a very special sign painting exhibition within the public-facing … Read more
Evans, Jones & Ricketts Restoration in Talgarth, Mid Wales
The restoration of ghost signs seems to be becoming more prevalent in the UK, or perhaps I’m just more conscious of them taking place. While … Read more
Ariel / Writers Revisited
This ghost sign for Ariel motorbikes, and the Writers shop that sold them in Kennington, is one of my London favourites, partly due to the … Read more
The Dioramas of Northall by Job Weessies
Job Weessies is a Dutch model maker and, after some time working on railway models, he has moved into working with card and on creating … Read more
A 1984 Photo of the Spitalfields Gillette Ghost Sign
I first posted about this illustrated Gillette ghost sign on Commercial Street back in 2007 when I came across it on Frank Jump’s Fading Ads … Read more
Karl Blaschke: The Sign Man of Munich
[This book review is reposted from the original on the Better Letters blog.] “Signwriters are entitled to their immortality just as are other artists and … Read more
King Size Viceroy Reversal in Rockford IL
This ghost sign in Rockford, Illinois advertises Viceroy cigarettes, and that they are ‘Now King Size’. It was shared on Twitter by BarbarianDiva and is … Read more
The Shopfronts of ‘Paris Re-Tale’
After publishing the wonderful photos of one-time Paris sign business E. Gautier, I was alerted to this project and the above video where the sign … Read more
Roy Reed’s Reconstructions
Roy Reed is a prolific collector and researcher of ghost signs, and uses his skills as a designer to decipher them. I’ve featured his work … Read more
Michelle Heron’s Fantastic Fascias
Michelle Heron is a London-based painter with a paticular fascination for old shops and shop fronts. Her paintings depict iconic fascias, many of which have … Read more
NE Signs Scavenger Hunt
Following a series of discussions on Twitter myself and a handful of others have decided to run a scavenger hunt to locate, photograph and map … Read more
E. Gautier’s Beautiful Paris Ghost Signs
Independently of each other I have been sent photos of this beautiful Paris ghost signs by Wim Dammers and book contributor Leisa Clements. It is … Read more
Tracking Down Boots in Stoke-on-Trent
Back in 2016 I gave a short talk about my archiving work at the annual conference of the Business Archives Council, where one of the … Read more
Ghostsigns of Clapham, a Forthcoming Walk
Following my talk to the Clapham Society last summer we are joining forces, with Roy Reed, to develop a walk exploring the many ghost signs … Read more
Ancient Lights in English Law
This blog post highlights an entire category of fading painted signs that I have never come across. They are for ‘ancient lights’ and reference an … Read more
London Street Signs with Alistair Hall
Alistair Hall of We Made This has spent the last couple of years documenting and researching the various forms taken by London’s Street Signs. He … Read more
Painted Advertisements in Islington: Part 4
The list below of painted advertisements in Islington was compiled in the hope that some of those reading it might write in with additional locations … Read more
Painted Advertisements in Islington: Part 3
The list below of painted advertisements in Islington was compiled in the hope that some of those reading it might write in with additional locations … Read more
Painted Advertisements in Islington: Part 2
The list below of painted advertisements in Islington was compiled in the hope that some of those reading it might write in with additional locations … Read more
Images of Buenos Aires’ Advertising Past
Historia de la Publicidas is a wonderful archive documenting the advertising history of Buenos Aires in Argentina. Curated by Raul Manrupe the collection features a … Read more
The Future of Ghostsigns’ Walking Tours
After much deliberation I have taken the decision to cease leading my public walking tours after the last one in May this year. That means … Read more
Gardiner & Lacey at the Cat & Mutton
The Cat & Mutton pub on Broadway Market in East London has a remarkable array of Victorian glasswork on display in the main bar (see … Read more