A ghost sign is an old hand-painted advertising signage that has been preserved on a building for an extended period of time. The signage may be kept for its nostalgic appeal, or simply indifference by the owner.
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They are found across the world with the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Canada having many surviving examples.[1] Ghost signs are also called fading ads[2] and brickads.[3] In many cases these are advertisements painted on brick that remained over time.[4] Old painted advertisements are occasionally discovered upon demolition of later-built adjoining structures.
Many ghost signs still visible are from the 1890s to 1960s.[4] Such signs were most commonly used in the decades before the Great Depression.[5]
As signage advertising formats changed, less durable signs appeared in the later 20th century, and ghost signs from that era are less common.
In a New York Times article on ghost signs, Kathleen Hulser of the New York Historical Society, said, "[The signs] evoke the exuberant period of American capitalism. Consumer cultures were really getting going and there weren't many rules yet, no landmarks preservation commission or organized community saying: 'Isn't this awful? There's a picture of a man chewing tobacco on the corner of my street.'"[5]
Several people maintain websites devoted to ghost signs.[5]
Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Ghost_signs Ghost signs] at Wikimedia Commons