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Ghost Signs
jeanne m elliott
A Photographic History of Montana's Fading Ads
Ghost Signs - Advertising's Apparitions
Faded Advertisements
Ghost signs are faded advertisements that, in the United States, were painted on buildings primarily from the late 1800's through the mid 1950's. While some advertisements were painted on barns, as was the case of the prolifically painted Pouch Tobacco ads, brick was a preferred medium. Unlike wood, the paint absorbed well and had greater longevity on brick.
Ghost signs are represented by simple black and white block letters identifying establishments as well as bright complex designs representing national products such as Coca Cola, Wrigley's Gum, and Owl Cigars and local products or businesses such as beer, jewelry, and hats. Traversing the downtown area of cities and towns will reveal faded advertisements in alleyways, high on the buildings' facia and along their sides at eye's view. Sometimes, as fate might have it, when a building has to be torn down a ghost sign is revealed on the adjacent wall.
Ghost signs are represented by simple black and white block letters identifying establishments as well as bright complex designs representing national products such as Coca Cola, Wrigley's Gum, and Owl Cigars and local products or businesses such as beer, jewelry, and hats. Traversing the downtown area of cities and towns will reveal faded advertisements in alleyways, high on the buildings' facia and along their sides at eye's view. Sometimes, as fate might have it, when a building has to be torn down a ghost sign is revealed on the adjacent wall.
Wall Dogs
The men who painted wall signs were called "Wall Dogs." Some say the name came from how hard they worked. Wall dogs were frequently expected to put up a sign a day and they spent many hours high on a building without the benefit of modern scaffolding or safety gear. Many wall dogs were artists and their signatures can occasionally be found in a lower corner of the image.
With the advent of billboards and electronic signs the demand for painted signs diminished and the craft died a slow death. Fortunately, a contingent of passionate "modern day Wall Dogs" are perfecting their work. In 2010 "The Ritual Project" documented the step by step production of painting a Stella Artois ad on the side of a New York City building. A fantastic video "Up There" resulted which will let you live for a few minutes through the Wall Dog's eyes from on high.
Owner Signs and Privilege Signs
Painted advertisements of that time period fell into two categories: Those referred to as "owner signs" which were sponsered by the owner of an establishment or building to represent their product or business name and those called "privilege signs" which were advertisements supported by national companies such as Owl Cigars.
The sponsors of privilege signs typically hired individuals to paint their images and gave the business owners a smaller credit on the wall for allowing them to use the surface of their building. The privilege sign below, found in Drummond, Montana, where rodeos are a part of the community, is likely sponsored by Lee Rider for their jeans in the late 1940's. The beneficiary of the advertisement is Greany's Dry Good Store, who sold the pants.
The black and white sign below identifying the establishment as the Mueller Hotel and Milwaukee Tavern has a sign below in faded black and white. It appears to be a graphic but it will remain an apparition to the viewer from here forward.
