Fading painted signs

Cigarettes

Sadly we recently lost what was one of my all-time favourite ghost signs, in the shape of the Black Cat on Dingley Road. RIP. The brand was a pioneer of cigarette cards, and their power to foster increased sales through the parallel addictive properties of […]

Bill-Poster: A London Type

This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged Advertising Bill-Poster Black Cat Carerras Cigarettes Gentle Author London London Types Spitalfields Life Street Flusher UK on July 20, 2018 by Sam Roberts

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 a lovely example of a ‘reverse’ ghost sign. This effect is achieved by the demolition of the host building, leaving […]

King Size Viceroy Reversal in Rockford IL

This entry was posted in Signs of Note and tagged Cigarettes IL Illinois King Size Mirror Reverse Rockford Tobacco USA Viceroy on May 11, 2018 by Sam Roberts

I’m often asked what is my favourite ghostsign. There are many to choose from, but, since first discovering it in 2007, the Black Cat Cigarettes sign on Dingley Road in London is the one I usually go for. When giving my Top Ten London Ghostsigns […]

RIP: Black Cat Cigarettes

This entry was posted in Sign Preservation and tagged Black Cat Carerras Cigarettes Clerkenwell Dingley Road Ghostsigns London Londonist RIP Tobacco UK on September 13, 2016 by Sam Roberts

Hand-painted lettering on a wall saying 'Furniture Bought, Sold Or' — This is a detail from one of my all-time favourite ghostsigns. It’s on Dulwich Road in South London and already features in the History of Advertising Trust Ghostsigns Archive. I had never actually seen it ‘in the flesh’ so it was a great surprise addition […]

S Errington and some other South London Ghostsigns

This entry was posted in Individual Signs and tagged Alcohol Beer Bovril Brixton Chemist Cigarettes Clothing Craven A Dulwich Road Food Furniture Ghostsigns Inch & Co John Lovibond London Mari Boman Our Sons Menswear S Errington Sam Roberts Tobacco on September 22, 2013 by Sam Roberts

Hand Painted Type alphabet by Umesh — Perhaps being in Cambodia has sensitised me to the world of Ghostsigns beyond my home shores. Or maybe awareness of the project has encouraged those from around the world to make contact. Whatever it is, I thought it was time for a round-up of what’s […]

Ghostsigns World Tour

This entry was posted in Sign Destinations Signs of Note and tagged Books Canada Cigarettes Colossal Media Contemporary Issues Delhi Event France Frank Jump Hague HandPaintedType India Lettering Marc Combier Modern Brickads Montreal Murals Netherlands New York Omega Oil People Production Restoration Signwriter Street Art Tobacco Tours Turret Umesh USA Van Gogh Video Worldwide on July 21, 2011 by Sam Roberts

Black Cat Cigarettes Full — One of my personal favourites, this one is on Dingley Road, EC1. It is for an old brand of cigarettes that no longer exists. There used to be a factory located on this site but more interesting is that Greater London House in Mornington Crescent […]

Black Cat Cigarettes

This entry was posted in Sign Stories and tagged Black Cat Cigarettes Dingley Road London Research Tobacco UK on June 19, 2007 by Sam Roberts