Fading painted signs

Coca-Cola

I was recently invited by the Coca-Cola Company to write a piece about ghost signs for their website. It turned into something of a summary of my journey over the last 11 years since noticing my first ever fading painted advertisement. Read it here, and […]

Chasing Ghosts for the Coca-Cola Company

This entry was posted in Signs in Media and tagged Article Coca-Cola Sam Roberts on January 19, 2018 by Sam Roberts

The restoration of ghostsigns is a topic that causes much debate among enthusiasts and members of the public alike. I have covered many projects on this blog, and explored the themes in articles here and elsewhere. There are also pieces in the book looking at […]

Restoration & Regeneration

This entry was posted in Sign Preservation Signs in Media and tagged Coca-Cola Main Street Regeneration Restoration USA on December 22, 2017 by Sam Roberts

Earlier this year I came across this project to restore a photo album of painted Coca-Cola signs, dating from 1913-14. The album is a fascinating survey of signs that were painted across New England over 100 years ago, some of which survive today as ghost […]

Photo Album of Painted Coca-Cola Signs (1914)

This entry was posted in Off Piste Photo Essays Related Work and tagged Archival Photos Coca-Cola NEDCC New England Restoration USA on November 24, 2017 by Sam Roberts

Peter Vogel runs the Nutmegger Workshop in Texas, and specialises in vintage and faux aged signs. Back in 2014 he sent me this collection of pictures of a genuine Coca-Cola ghostsign “trapped within a vestibule behind and between” the Witherspoon Building and its neighbour in […]

Hidden Coca-Cola Ghostsign in Portland’s Witherspoon Building

This entry was posted in Signs of Note and tagged 1890 Coca-Cola Coke Covering Nutmegger Workshop Oregon Peter Vogel Portland Relieves Fatigue Reveal USA Witherspoon Building on April 1, 2017 by Sam Roberts

Ghostsigns for Coca-Cola are found all over the USA and other parts of the world, although I know of only one in the UK. However, there’s now a few inside the company’s London head quarters, although these are strictly in the ‘faux’ category. I was […]

Faux Ghostsigns for Coca-Cola’s London HQ

This entry was posted in Inspired by Signs Sign Making and tagged Coca-Cola Coke Drink Faux Ghostsigns London Sign Painters Soft Drink UK on July 2, 2014 by Sam Roberts

Earlier this month I went on my first ever trip to the USA. This was to attend ‘Mazeppa Mardi Gras’, a meeting of the Letterheads in sub-zero Minnesota. It was a fantastic week of sign making and painting and you can read a full blown […]

Ghostsigns of Minnesota and the Mid-West

This entry was posted in Sign Collections and tagged Butch Anton Coca-Cola Coke Dakota Fargo Fitzgerald Theatre Galena Illinois John Ingles Letterheads Lyman's Milwakee Minneapolis Minnesota Missouri Nelson Creamery North Dakota Owl Cigars Palimpsest Peoria Red Wing RIP Squirt St Louis Wisconsin on March 19, 2014 by Sam Roberts

RE Ringer General Merchandise store front — In an effort to save this fading and rusting shop front, Beth and Tony Walls moved the entire building 150ft to allow for a highway widening project. Martin Garfinkel of Roadside Gallery has captured it beautifully in this fine art print, available to buy here. […]

Moving Walls to Save a Ghostsign

This entry was posted in Individual Signs and tagged Art Beth Walls Carrollton Coca-Cola Coke Georgia Ghostsigns Martin Garfinkel Photographer Photography Preservation Protection RE Ringer General Merchandise Restoration Roadside Gallery Tony Walls USA on March 14, 2014 by Sam Roberts

Clipping from Letterheads magazine showing Coca-Cola ghostsign in negative — Following the talk at St Bride, a chain of events led to Ash at Brilliant Signs, via Stewart at McLaren Signs, sending me a copy of Letterheads Magazine from 1998. I’d expressed an interest because of the big centre spread showing lots of ghostsigns. However, […]

Mirrored Ghostsign from Portland, Oregon

This entry was posted in Individual Signs Painted Lettering and tagged Brilliant Signs Coca-Cola Coke Ghostsigns Lee Littlewood Letterheads McLaren Signs Mirror Mirrored Oregon Portland Reverse USA on December 1, 2013 by Sam Roberts

Partially complete hand painted sign for Coca-Cola on a wall — 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 […]

Perfectly preserved Coca-Cola sign revealed in restaurant renovations

This entry was posted in Signs of Note and tagged Coca-Cola Coke Indoors Preservation Reveal Suffolk USA Virginia on August 2, 2012 by Sam Roberts

Signpainter applying red paint to coca cola sign on a white wall — The Salisbury Ghost Sign Restoration Project is an initiative of three enthusiasts in North Carolina. They have recently unveiled their first two restorations, both for Coca-Cola signs, so I thought it was time to catch up with one of the trio, Justin Dionne to find […]

Salisbury Ghost Sign Restoration Project

This entry was posted in Sign Folk Sign Initiatives Sign Making Sign Preservation and tagged Andy Thompson Coca-Cola Coke Justin Dionne Michael Alexander Nassar Mufdi North Carolina Restoration Salisbury Signwriter USA Wrigley on July 21, 2012 by Sam Roberts

Photo: MOLLYBLOCK The 5c price shown in the picture above only helps to place this sign in the 1886-1959 bracket. This research attempts to explain why this happened, with the resulting difficulty of using price as a dating tool for Coca-Cola ghostsigns in the USA.

The price of Coke in America remained unchanged for over ...

This entry was posted in Signs of Note and tagged Coca-Cola Coke Cola Ghostsigns Molly Block Price USA on May 19, 2012 by Sam Roberts

Photo: Jon C. Lakey Details of the process for a specific restoration project, with a facebook page to accompany it. More posts on restoration projects and issues here.

Restoration project for ghostsigns in Salisbury, North Carolina

This entry was posted in Related Work and tagged Coca-Cola Coke Ghostsigns North Carolina Restoration Salisbury USA on April 18, 2012 by Sam Roberts

Hand painted advertising on a building for various motoring brands — Since handing over day-to-day responsibility for the archive to the History of Advertising Trust there has been a steady influx of new material. 49 new signs have been uploaded to the online galleries and this means that c.750 are now documented through the collective efforts […]

49 New Signs

This entry was posted in Sign Collections and tagged AA Alcohol Archive Beer Bookbinder Bovril Coca-Cola Coke Darvill's Drink Furniture Gramophones HAT Household Jewellery Little Miss Barber Motoring Music Pianos Printers Puck Matches RAC Soft Drink Stationery Tea Transport Twinings Vaux on August 5, 2011 by Sam Roberts

Debate over this site for a new painted wall advertisement Frank Jump over in NYC, USA recently presented the case, on behalf of Colossal Media, for the ‘overwriting’ of an old fading ghost sign with a new Colossal production. Presumably an application to do so […]

Landmarks Commission Hearing

This entry was posted in Sign Preservation Signs of Note and tagged Coca-Cola Coke Colossal Media Frank Jump New York Political Lobbying Protection USA on December 25, 2007 by Sam Roberts