From KETC, LIVING ST. LOUIS Producer Jim Kirchherr finds out the truth behind "Ghost signs," faded advertisements painted on brick walls of rehabbed loft spaces and vacant buildings around St. Louis. Theses signs offer a glimpse into a busier, simpler age when blacksmiths were prominent and specialty shops lined the streets of the Wellington Loop.
Living and working in San Francisco, FontShop.com’s hometown, one is immediately aware of hand-painted signs — whether it’s the colorful Spanish-language brushwork of the Mission District or the mid-century marquees, liquor stores, and florists of the East and South Bay. There was a time when every sign was made by hand, and most of them were painted. Now, in an era of computers and vinyl, the craft is sadly rare. Fortunately there are still a few bright spots, like New Bohemia Signs newbohemiasigns.com, where the tradition is carried on to create new markers for the next generation of city dwellers.
We visited proprietor Damon Styer at his shop on 11th in SOMA and followed him to a job up the street. He describes the “muscle memory” that drives such quick and legible, yet beautifully imperfect work.
Former Little Fish restaurant, closed due to structural problems. After removing aluminum siding on second and third stories, "PAT STEAK" signage appears. Wonder if it had any connection to the other famous steak joint by that name?
"CATTIE GALVANIZING CORPORATION" horizontally along XXX Street.
Address numerals "107" faintly visible at the top of this rowhouse. More signage, now illegible, running vertically along the edges and between the windows.
Shot high above the streets of New York City, "UP THERE" reveals the dying craft of large-scale hand painted advertising and the untold story of the painters struggling to keep it alive.
Capturing a trade that is equal parts artistic precision and greuling labor, the filmpresents a painting tradition pre-dating modern advertising. A craft that today finds itself dangling precariously on the brink of extinction.
