The trend of hand-painted signs continues on this newly renovated building on Lviv’s main square. This time, in addition to the usual Ukrainian, Polish, German, English translations, there is also French, Italian, Spanish, and Chinese. (Though there is a mistake in the Italian translation—should be “teatro” and not “theatre.”) A […]
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I’ve been seeing more and more establishments use their facades to list the products that they sell or services that they provide, the old-school way. I particularly like it when the items are listed in several languages, as used to be done in Lviv before WWII. Before the languages used […]
On Saturday I went on a bicycle excursion to the Pidzamche neighborhood in Lviv and found this amazing very recently uncovered ghost sign! It must have been uncovered in the last month because it wasn’t visible when I was wandering around this neighborhood in May. Judging from the sign, in […]
My cousin took some very nice photos of several ghost signs in Montreal. As I don’t think I will make it to Montreal anytime soon, I will share his photos. Photos courtesy of Danylo Jaworsky
This ghost sign I saw through the window of my hostel room. It is on an former furniture factory in a courtyard. The sign says “Mööblitööstus,” which is Estonian for “furniture manufacture.” Two restored hand-painted signs from when this building used to house a pharmacy and a gallery. Now it […]
Ģipša Fabrika (Gypsym Factory) is located on the island of Kipsala, a former fishermen’s village. This nineteenth-century brick building used to be a plaster factory. Now it is part of a luxury apartment complex. Somewhere in the Old Town These two signs are on a building on Albert Street, a street […]
Modern hand-painted signs in Ivano-Frankivsk:
At first I thought this was a ghost sign, but after looking closer at what it says and later finding that there really is a store with that name now, I understood it was not. It’s a store that sells gifts, souvenirs, and postcards. I really like the sign nevertheless.
I expected to find more ghost signs in Scotland, but nevertheless I found some interesting ones in Edinburgh. I’m not sure about the dates of these – unlike in Ukraine, the language of the signage doesn’t help to date the sign. But by what is being advertized and font it seems like […]
It’s very sad to see ghost signs defaced. Graffiti is just one of the many threats to these old signs. Recently I noticed that an interesting Polish-language sign in Lviv had been vandalized. Then shortly later, the West Ham tag was painted over with pink paint to better reveal the letters […]
Chicago has its share of ghost signs. Here a few from a couple neighborhoods on the north side of the city. The first one is an old ad for the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company, which was based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Schlitz brewery was opened in 1858 and in 1902 […]
