I live just a couple of minutes from the fount pen sign photographed by Sam on your blog.

Hackney Ghost Sign

Ben Hoare
writer & editor
Stoke Newington
London

A few of my favorites:

http://www.lawrenceotoole.com/.....chine.html
Hope Machine Co.

http://www.lawrenceotoole.com/.....-loan.html
Uncle Bill’s(?) Pawn Brokers

http://www.lawrenceotoole.com/.....coats.html
Klosfit Petticoat

http://www.lawrenceotoole.com/.....-olde.html
Roxy’s

http://www.lawrenceotoole.com/.....lkies.html
Grand Theatre Talkies

There was a great faded sign on the side of a building I would see driving south over the Chicago River on Damen Avenue, in Chicago. It was an advertisement for a lawn mower brand, called “Something Chief”. It showed the profile of an American Indian.

So many times, I drove past that image and thought about how popular culture celebrated these mythical images of the first settlers, whom in reality were continuously displaced and confined when they couldn’t make room for the new settlers.

The building was torn down and the image with it.

Peterkin (St. John’s Hill, London, UK)

http://brickads.blogspot.com/search/label/Peterkin

Ariel (Kennington, London, UK)

http://brickads.blogspot.com/search/label/Ariel
(see also the comments made on this post for more info)

Black Cat (Dingley Place, London, UK)

http://brickads.blogspot.com/s.....lack%20Cat

Fount Pens (Stoke Newington Church Street, London, UK)

This sign, crafted to fit with the limitations of the wall space, has three components:

1. Horizontal banner stating that any make of fount pen can be repaired.

2. Upper vertical banner with the company branding (Walker Bros).

3. Lower vertical banner stating Walker Bros are agents for Watermans.

The sign features different typefaces and this is because the horizontal banner, which differs most from the rest, was amended at a later date. It is possible to see the remains of the original sign coming through, particularly near the end of the word ‘Repaired’. The vertical banner has not been tampered with.

It is likely that the original sign was paid for by Watermans. They would have done this in return for the use of Walker Bros’ wall space to promote their fountain pens. Walker Bros would have agreed to this arrangement because it gave their shop publicity in return for providing the wall space for the sign. This is quite a common feature of signs, with big manufacturers ‘borrowing’ retailers’ wall space to promote their own brands in return for including the retailer somewhere on the sign. Comparing the style of the Watermans branding to press advertising allows this sign to be dated to pre-1930.

The original sign had more consistency in terms of typefaces. It is likely that the amended sign was paid for by Walker Bros themselves and so they commissioned a cheaper sign writer to produce the wording with a much simpler typeface used.

The notion of getting a pen repaired would be alien to most people in today’s world of disposable biros but this sign is evidence that it was once common practice. Although Walker Bros are no more, they have been outlived by Watermans who are still manufacturing pens to this day. This would lead to the conclusion that Watermans got the better deal when they paid for this sign to be painted.

My site is http://www.ghostsigns.co.uk
and my pictures are at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8.....454018908/

Sam

This first one is from the Oil & Gas Museum, located right in the middle of downtown. For the longest time, this building was just a building, with nothing much to it, until they turned it into a museum. I know it looks sort of “fake”, but that’s because the focus of this photo is the well, not the “ghost sign” in the background. If you saw the “ghost sign”, you’d be impressed. They didn’t just repaint the coffee ad text, they also repainted this huge mural next to it - I believe the whole side of the building was the ad. (The mural is if downtown Parkersburg as it looked “back in the day”, with the state seal.) That’s why this photo looks like it might have been taken in a studio with a drop background.

This next one is a “ghost sign” taken from the side of the Smoot Theater in downtown, just up the street from the Oil & Gas Museum. The Smoot Theater is actually on the National Registry of Historical Places. Beautiful theater, and still very much used to this day.