Indoor Ghost Signs in Lviv

It’s less common to find hand-painted signs inside the entranceways and corridors of buildings—but in Lviv there are a few examples of such ghost signs, which served different functions. Kniazha Romana Street During the interwar period, this building housed a oil industry union and a union of petroleum products — […]

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Take Courage ghost sign

Ghost Signs: England

England’s ghost signs, or fading brick ads, are the most famous and numerous. There is a website Ghostsigns dedicated to them (above all in England, but also around the world) and on Facebook there are many groups dedicated to these old signs. Suprisingly I didn’t come across that many during […]

Old Hat Shop Signs in Lviv

I came across a lovely prewar photograph of the outside of a hat shop in Lviv. The hand-painted sign reads in Polish “Pracownia czapek – wykonuje po najtańszych cenach,” which means “Hats workshop – produced at the cheapest prices.” In addition to Polish, it includes a Yiddish translation as well […]

Ghost Sign on Lesia Ukrayinka Theater

A few year ago, I came across this ghost sign when only a small part was visible. Fortunately, the rest of the sign was recently liberated: SIECZKARNIE  KULTYWATORY MŁOCARNIE  KIERATY CHAFF-CUTTERS TILLERS THRESHERS HORSE MILLS It seems at some point this space sold farming machinery, though I haven’t been able […]

Ghost Signs on Hlyboka Street

It’s not often I find an old photograph of Lviv with signage that is still visible today. One of the few examples is a prewar photograph of a milk house, the storefront of which still displays the multilingual signs of the long-gone establishment, as can be seen in this post. […]

Ghost Signs: Amsterdam

Ghost Signs in Prague

On Lviv’s Ghost Signs: ‘The House with a Stained Glass Window’

On Lviv’s ghost signs from the book “The House with a Stained Glass Window” (by Żanna Słoniowska, 2015), which takes place in the early 1990s: I had always tried my best to read the city like a great book, but it turned out he was the one who knew its […]

Ghost Sign: Gothenburg

Gothenburg’s Sandwich Shop Fresh butter Fresh eggs  

Ghost Signs: Stockholm

Ghost Signs: Vienna

I was a bit surprised to find almost no ghost signs in Vienna. Here’s what I did find…