Ghost signs

 

Well, I knew that my interest in bricks and twentieth century industrial buildings is shared at least by Thomas Ryan in Tasmania, but I thought this was perhaps a rather obscure interest. As also my eye for what I called in an earlier post "bricks with vanishing signage". Then I heard on the radio about a recent conference and followed this lead on the internet. To my delight I learned that there are a whole community of people documenting what are officially known as “ghost signs”.  And I discovered the websites of Dr Stefan Schutt of Victoria University.

Finding the Radio book is a fascinating website, combining the personal linked with the social; a story about a chance discovery that leads in many directions, and a whole lot of great photos.

As well as the Radio Book, Stefan found many receipts from an old signwriting company and these have been meticulously catalogued and their locations pinpointed on maps at the website Lewis and Skinner. This is also a terrific site and I am sure it is a great resource for those who love to capture the “signs” of times past. I am amazed how widespread signwriting was – I suppose it was the dominant form of advertising in the pre-digital world.

It is with great pride that I now consider myself part of the community of ghost sign hunters and add my little discovery of a few weeks ago, in a small street a block away from Lygon Street Brunswick. Look closely, can you read them?