Ghost signs

[LizzieMaine]

The real artistry in the old Coca-Cola signs is that they were done entirely freehand. Modern, that is, post-1950 "walldogging" was done largely thru the use of what's called a "pounce pattern," a perforated paper sheet that's dusted with chalk powder to lay guidelines onto the wall for the painter to follow. But while the wall dogs of the Era used specification books issued by The Coca-Cola Company in planning their signs, the actual work itself was done entirely by eye -- they'd lay out a grid in their minds based on counting bricks up and bricks down, and, using the specification book, they'd paint the sign from that.

The skill involved in doing a job like that is almost beyond comprehension, especially when you remember that they're (1.) often doing this on a scaffold several stories above the street and (2.) they have no way of getting a full view of the work in progress from where they're working. And you can also add in (3.) many of them worked with their minds fogged from years of slowly-accumulating lead poisoning.

Sign painters of the Era had a mythological personification, "Slappy Hooper," a sort of Joe Magarac/Paul Bunyan type of character in paint-smeared overalls, who was so good at his job he could paint ads on clouds, but the reality is that all those guys had larger-than-life skills.

 

[Fading Fast]

Restoration jobs, whether professionally or poorly done, are at least an attempt to preserve something that somebody, somewhere has deemed worth saving. Ghost signs, neon signs, whatever. I don't always appreciate the outcome of the endeavor, but I can certainly appreciate the sentiment.

As for the deliberate destruction of something to create a false patina (pretty unforgivable) or the creation of something new that looks old....these speak to the impatience of the culture we live in. And maybe a little to the laziness. For generations now, pre-faded blue jeans have been the norm, and it's not unusual for the more fashionably inclined to drop some serious cash on a pair with holes already built into the knees. That's the mindset that would paint a new old sign on a pot shop. I'd like to say I wholeheartedly agree with Lizzie's assessment that it boggles the mind, but truthfully it's not surprising to me in the least. Sadly.

I'm on board with all this ⇧ with one caveat. As a kid in the '70s, the only jeans my mom would buy me were the stiff, very blue, not pre-washed (did they even have pre-washed in the '70s?) ones from the Army Navy store and whatever brand was on sale. I'd run them through the washer several times (then, she'd say "enough") and I'd break them in from there by wearing them. The were stiff and looked "too new" for awhile till they softened and faded a bit.

In the '80s, when I was earning my own money and saw pre-washed ones (I think that's what they called them back then) at, pretty sure, The Gap, I gave them a shot. These were not "distressed" or ripped or any of that stuff, just jeans that looked and felt like you had run them through the washer ten or twenty times. I never looked back and have bought jeans like that ever since. Again, not ripped, or torn, or frayed or "distress," but definitely broken in as it, IMHO, beats the heck out of buying those old stiff ones.

 

[Fading Fast]

The real artistry in the old Coca-Cola signs is that they were done entirely freehand. Modern, that is, post-1950 "walldogging" was done largely thru the use of what's called a "pounce pattern," a perforated paper sheet that's dusted with chalk powder to lay guidelines onto the wall for the painter to follow. But while the wall dogs of the Era used specification books issued by The Coca-Cola Company in planning their signs, the actual work itself was done entirely by eye -- they'd lay out a grid in their minds based on counting bricks up and bricks down, and, using the specification book, they'd paint the sign from that.

The skill involved in doing a job like that is almost beyond comprehension, especially when you remember that they're (1.) often doing this on a scaffold several stories above the street and (2.) they have no way of getting a full view of the work in progress from where they're working. And you can also add in (3.) many of them worked with their minds fogged from years of slowly-accumulating lead poisoning.

Sign painters of the Era had a mythological personification, "Slappy Hooper," a sort of Joe Magarac/Paul Bunyan type of character in paint-smeared overalls, who was so good at his job he could paint ads on clouds, but the reality is that all those guys had larger-than-life skills.

This is great stuff Lizzie - really neat (and I'd bet, hard to find) information. Thank you for posting it.

 

[tonyb]

Probably on another forum here I might find the answer, but I’m lazy, so ...

Are today’s Levi’s 501s the same product they sold back a half century and more ago?

I can’t recall when I last bought a pair (store-brand jeans are dirt cheap these days, like, less than 20 bucks cheap; Levi’s ain’t), but back in my teens and 20s the Levi’s button-fly red tags were my everyday uniform. Shrink-to-fit, they were. We had to wash ’em in hot water a couple times (the discharge water ran a deep blue) and dry ’em on high. And we patched ’em as they wore through at the knees. And we patched the patches. A joke back then was you could spot a lazy guy by the patches on the seat of his Levi’s.

 

[tonyb]

I bought this piece of art, and an old gallery poster, from a vendor at a vintage fair a couple-three years ago. I have no idea to whom credit is due, but I dig it. (Not everyone shares that opinion, and that’s fine by me.) The creator left the leather size tag and the red pocket tag unpainted.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Recently shot in Beacon, NY... with my classic Olympus OM-2 and good old Tri-X!

 

[tonyb]

^^^^^
Does Highway Displays Inc. make road signs?*

There is (or was) an outfit in the Ballard district of Seattle called Fentron Highway Products that made such signs. Decades back the locals would salvage the lumber and plywood the company used for shipping those signs. More than few sheds and even a garage or three were made from that stuff. I doubt they give it away anymore.

I happen to have a case full of OM stuff — a couple of bodies, motor winders, a bunch of lenses — that hasn’t been used in at least a decade. I had used Nikon stuff before the OM-1 came out. After that there was no going back.

I almost bought film yesterday, at a lab where I had some 8 x 10s made. Almost.

*I looked it up. It appears they are in the outdoor commercial sign business.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Yes, there was clearly a billboard above it at some point in the past. Just painted bricks there now.

I also still shoot with a Nikon F2, but even with my smallest lens (the awesome Nikkor 45/2.8 GN) it's so much larger and heavier than the OM-2 that carrying it is a definite schlep. But you know, that heft and tank-like build quality are also part of its charm. Both are fantastic machines from the golden age of manual film cameras. And talk about build quality: both are working perfectly without having had a CLA (clean-lube-adjust servicing) in DECADES!

 

[tonyb]

It was the ergonomics that sold me on the OM.

I’m no pro photographer, but I know I took much better pictures when taking pictures cost money. And I knew some of those photos might be the best ones we had to put in the paper. So of course I put more into it.

 

[tonyb]

Recently shot in Beacon, NY... with my classic Olympus OM-2 and good old Tri-X!

View attachment 247335

That’s a great sign, by the way, and a darned good photo, too. Zooming in it appears to be a porcelain on steel, with honest nicks and dings.

A large print would make quite the statement.

 

[BobHufford]

Somewhere in Missouri. "Coca-Cola / In Bottles"

 

[Zombie_61]

Probably on another forum here I might find the answer, but I’m lazy, so ...

Are today’s Levi’s 501s the same product they sold back a half century and more ago?

Essentially the same, yes. Exactly the same, no. Over the years they've added and subtracted pockets and cinches, the fit has been adjusted, they now have slimmed-down versions and stretch denim (???), and on most pants the whole "shrink-to-fit" thing has been done before they leave the sweatshop.

 

[dh66]

We were just on the topic of "restored" signs and today I ran across this one on the way to a job.

 

[tonyb]

^^^^^^
I’ve been keeping an eye out for a vintage “COLOR TV” sign similar to that one, but not painted on a brick wall, of course. I’m thinking more like a ’60s vintage one from a motel.

I must be in plentiful if not necessarily good company, judging by the prices those signs are fetching these days — prices I won’t pay. I have faith in the sign gods to deliver one at a price I will pay. Eventually.

 

[Bushman]

Shot on Interstate 80 heading east through Illinois:

 

[BobHufford]

I need to find someone who can hand paint my name / location / rated load weight (and reference my son) on my modern truck. Or better yet, find an old truck to carry the tradition.

 

[Zombie_61]

I need to find someone who can hand paint my name / location / rated load weight (and reference my son) on my modern truck. Or better yet, find an old truck to carry the tradition...

I think you're going to have a tough time finding an old truck with your name, location, rated load weight, and a reference to your son already painted on it.

 

[BobHufford]

Noel, Missouri

 

[BobHufford]

Triple layer ghosting in West Plains, Missouri.

 

[tonyb]

Dang, Bob, it looks like you live in ghost sign heaven. Or just down the road from it.