ENCORE - GHOST SIGN SHOW

Photographic Selections from
The Philadelphia Ghost Sign Project
at the PRIMER Microstudio
Opening this First Friday, March 6th
6:00 to 10:00 pm

Join us for a special encore exhibition of photographs taken by Lawrence O'Toole in attempt to document these once prominent but now quickly vanishing features of the urban landscape.

If you can't make the opening, the gallery is open during normal business hours, and the exhibition will be on display all month long.

We hope you'll be able to stop by!

PRIMER Microstudio
15 Byberry Road
Hatboro PA
[map]

Ghost Sign Show Photos

Photos of the opening have been posted to the PRIMER Microstudio Flickr page. The show will be up all month. Stop on by!

GHOST SIGN SHOW THIS FRIDAY!

Photographic Selections from
The Philadelphia Ghost Sign Project
at the PRIMER Microstudio
Opening this First Friday, February 6th
6:00 to 10:00 pm

Join us for an exhibition of photographs taken by Lawrence O'Toole in attempt to document these once prominent but now quickly vanishing features of the urban landscape.

If you can't make the opening, the gallery is open during normal business hours, and the exhibition will be on display all month long.

We hope you'll be able to stop by!

PRIMER Microstudio
15 Byberry Road
Hatboro PA
[map]

Ghost SIgn Article in Baltimore STYLE Magazine

Photographer LaShelle Bynum captures the 'ghost signs' of Baltimore's advertising past:

Once she got started, Bynum couldn’t stop hunting for the old signs, which are known as ghost signs because they advertise long-gone businesses and because white is often the only color remaining on a sign (white lead paint deteriorates slower than color paints). Over the period of five years, Bynum amassed a portfolio of more than 125 images. An exhibit of her work— accompanied by her research into the history of the signs— debuted at the Enoch Pratt Free Library in 2007.

Read the entire article, and see some great images, here.

1234 Anywhere Street [map]

7up

Here is the same storefront in 1951. From the angle you can't tell what is on the side of the building, but you can see some sort of signage there.

PhillyHistory.org. Philadelphia Department of Records. 6 January 2009. <http://www.phillyhistory.org>.

50th and Lancaster Streets [map]

CLOTHING

Strange, everything is very faded except "CLOTHING"...

31st and Girard [map]

MONEY - LOANS - GOODS OF VALUE

View at corner.


From left to right: "MONEY LUGGAGE CLOTHING WATCHES DIAMONDS MONEY"


"MONEY"


"STANLEY'S (?) LOANS" and "GOODS OF VALUE"

13th and Snyder Streets [map]

Premium Blue Ribbon Malt Extract

"Premium Blue Ribbon Malt Extract"
Not quite sure what appears beneath.

Wildey Street at Front Street [map]

JONES

"JONES"
Older signage appears beneath.


Illegible signage on side of building as well.

53rd and Lansdowne Ave [map]

... cent's Cafe

"This is! (VIN)CENT'S CAFE ... (WE) SPECIALIZE IN ... (TOM)ATO PIE ... ?"

4900 block Lancaster [map]

... BROS

Hard to read, very faded.

Lancaster between Thompson and Girard [map]

Orinoka Mills

More info on the mill here.


UPDATE: Although some independent textile and manufacturing businesses still operate in the newer buildings of the Orinoka Mills complex, most of the older buildings have suffered serious deterioration since having been left vacant for more than a decade, losing brick, cornices and other features. The City of Philadelphia demolished this older half of the mill building on Ruth Street due to falling brickwork in the summer of 2011. Unfortunately, this is the portion of the building that featured this Orinoka Mill painted sign.

Somerset and Ruth Streets [map]

Kolb's, Bond Bread

UPDATE: Building has been demolished.



"Kolb's" at top, a local baker.
"Bond Bread" in center.
"FRUIT HEART"? in the center, "5¢" just below that
and "CHEWING GUM EVER" at bottom.
Numerous illustrations and devices.



The following was  listed in the 1909 Philadelphia City Directory:
Kolb's Bakeries, 10th and Reed, Broad and Butler, and 56th and Market.


The history of Bond Bread can be traced to 1911, when the General Baking Co. was incorporated in New York as an amalgamation of 19 former baking businesses. Apparently, one of those bakeries was local Kolb Bakery. By 1930 the company owned 50 plants serving cities in 18 states. The production of bread, sold under the trade name of "Bond Bread," accounted for over 90 percent of its sales and production averaged nearly 1.5 million loaves per day.


There were many competitors in the marketplace, and advertising played a big role. Bond sponsored television programs, ran commercials and ads in magazines, and placed priviledge signs such as this one in neighborhoods.


By the early 1960s General Baking was suffering from increased competition from supermarkets, many of which had begun equipping their stores with their own bakeries. In addition, charges of illegally conspiring to fix bread prices in the Philadelphia and New York area hurt the brand.  By 1972 the company had disposed of virtually all of the Bond division.



Here are images of the location dated 11/13/1953...


...and 3/17/1954...

In both shots you can see the older signage revealing itself.

PhillyHistory.org. Philadelphia Department of Records. 25 November 2008. <http://www.phillyhistory.org>.

19th and Catherine Streets [map]

Livery and Boarding, Stables

"Livery and Boarding" "Stables"


Shown as "LIVERY" on 1910 atlas, but space was a marble yard in 1895, and only building is shown as industrial use afterward.

1200 block N 4th Street [map]

Girard Auto Parts

"Girard Auto Parts" etc, a modern sign.
Unknown older signage appears beneath.

Girard and Leithgow St [map]

T.J. Cobourn, Groce(r) and Camac Food Market

"T.J. Cobourn, Groce(r)"
and newer "Camac Food Market" "FREE DELIVERY" "Phone XX 6-1776" "Every body likes ..."

Here is the location when it actually was the Camac Food Market, dated 3/2/1959...


PhillyHistory.org. Philadelphia Department of Records. 25 November 2008. <http://www.phillyhistory.org>.

Spruce and Camac Streets [map]

By all means BUY (?) MILK

"By all means BUY... MILK" at top, "SUPPLEE WILLS-JONES" at bottom.

Here is the location in a photo dated 8/1/1955...

... and the sign is not visible. Painted over?

Tagline could be "By all means buy Gold Medal Milk" as in this photo of a Supplee-Wills-Jones billboard (far right just in front of the car) taken in an unkown area of Philadelphia in 1923... the lettering styles do match up:



A large local dairy and ice cream manufacturer, Supplee-Wills-Jones carried their own brand(s) as well as distributed Sealtest. In 1950 the company was 145 years old - unsure when or if the company was bought or closed.

PhillyHistory.org. Philadelphia Department of Records. 25 November 2008. <http://www.phillyhistory.org> and
Duke University Digital Collections, R.C. Maxwell Company Records

5th and Fairmount [map]

Tassels, Fringes

Sign over window reads "TRO...S ...WOOD"


Here is the location in a photo dated 3/8/1949...

... and here is the location in a photo dated 6/28/1949. These were taken to document the paving over of the cobblestones. In both photos, you can see the building in the upper right corner, and the signage on the very edge of the corner reads "TASSELS" and "FRINGES". Unsure what this business was.


Early atlases have this building as a corn and hominy mill.

PhillyHistory.org. Philadelphia Department of Records. 25 November 2008. <http://www.phillyhistory.org>.

6th and Berks Street [map]

La...

"La..."
Newer signage.

5th and Berks Street [map]

Photo Process Screen Mfg.

"Photo Process Screen Mfg. Silk Screens & Supplies"

A bunch of great small signs all over the building.
Many of these small signs seem to be painted over older signs.






In operation from this location for over 65 years. Still in business.


179 West Berks Street [map]