RIP
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RIP: 154 Bishopsgate EC2
This elegant painted sign adorning the stonework above the entrance to 154 Bishopsgate, London EC2, is no more, recently replaced by mounted metal letters (see picture below). Although it isn’t what most would refer to as a ghostsign (see my chapter, What is a Ghost Sign?, in this forthcoming book), it was a striking and […]
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RIP: H. Callcut & Son
The H. Callcut & Son sign that once adorned this house front has now been whitewashed (see below). It was on Blackstock Road in North London, close to my old primary school, so I was quite sad to see this familiar landmark lost to property development. The photo above, and the details below were taken […]
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RIP: Signwriters – Gilding & Pictorial Artists
This beautiful gilded script once marked the home of Ambridge Signs. When they left the premises the sign didn’t come with them and, until last month, it provided a reminder of the area’s signwriting heritage. It was situated on this unassuming building at the end of a terrace on Southgate Road, De Beauvoir, but has now […]
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Cars No Longer Wanted: RIP
This car dealership sign has been recently whitewashed, as discovered while cycling past today. However, was it ever a ghostsign, given that the dealership remains in business at the same location? The sign had clearly fallen into disrepair, but was not completely abandoned. This has always been one of my London favourites, mainly due to […]
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Ghostsigns of Minnesota and the Mid-West
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 account of the week over on the Better Letters site. […]
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RIP: Midford Fox
This photo from the early 1900s comes from the Akeman Press Archive and shows a family posing with their car outside this former tavern in Midford, Somerset. Kirsten Elliott from Akeman informs me that the last remains of the sign have now been rendered and painted over, making this a recent addition to the growing […]