Faint Traces of The Tradesmen’s Entrance, Berkeley Square, Bristol, 05/08/15.

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Berkeley Square Bristol, Bristol, entrance, Ghost Signs, signs, tradesmen, tradesmen's entrance

Phil’s Street Art Project & Bile Beans Ghostsign, York, 13/05/14.

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Art, Auf Wiedersehen, Bile Beans, duck, Ducks, Ghost Signs, Heinz beans, Phil, Phil's Street Art Project, Street Art, Street Art Project, The Sound of Music, York

Fortunately  for me, Phil’s Street Art Project and a friend of mine’s walk to work intersect at a rather complicated looking road junction over the River Foss and up at Lord Mayor’s Walk, otherwise I would have completely missed Phil’s ducks or “The Ducks” as they are described on his website (http://www.philsstreetartproject.com/the-street-art-duck-gallery.php). The ducks on the railing are visible from quite some distance away; the ducks being yellow and, if I do say so myself, an iconic shape (people have tried to improve the toy duck over the years by adding sunglasses and the like, but I’m a purest and prefer the classic duck). You get another laugh when you see them up close and realise that they are carrying signs; the Sound of Music ducks (above) are actually the last duck’s in the series, so the quote is very fitting.

The second duck of the morning was a lot harder to spot from a distance…

For those ghost sign purest, here is a photograph of the Bile Beans sign without the duck:

You might be interested to know that this sign is featured on the History of Advertising Trust (HAT) website (reference GA00067_P0256_M01 http://www.hatads.org.uk/ads/ghostsigns/12433/8492/Medical–Health). 

More information can be found about Phil’s art works on his website: http://www.philsstreetartproject.com/.

Photo Archive: Ghost Sign, Hull, September 2011.

Tags

End of Terrace, Ghost Signs, Hull, Hull City of Culture 2017, Sign Writing, Type

I noticed this end-of-terrace when the train from Scarborough was halted at a red signal on the approach to Hull’s Paragon Station back in 2011; the odd one out in a photograph album full of seaside snapshots. I am not entirely sure why these signs appeal to me, but a certain amount of the “ghost signs” charm lies in the beauty of the sign writers art.