I look forward to my drive home from work every day because of this guy. How can you not smile back? Sometimes I imagine that he winks at me. Fresh Guy calls the Wonder Bread Bakery on Fourth Street home.
These hand painted signs on the exteriors of businesses are scattered throughout Columbus and most other cities across the country. Typically these advertisements are referred to as “ghost signs” since they typically advertise no longer existing businesses. Sadly, lettered signs on brick have been replaced by plastic and lighted signs to better attract customers and to comply with modern sign code ordinances.
I strongly believe these signs should be included in a community’s public art inventory and the more unique ones granted preservation status. These signs are architectural features that dramatically improve the exteriors of humdrum brick buildings. Simply put, these signs give personality to neighborhoods and business districts that have grown bland and sterile over the years.
There are a lot of great blogs that track “ghost signs” but one of my favorites is http://brickads.blogspot.com/. Admittedly my personal collection of “ghost signs” in Columbus has grown over the past year but I hope to devote more time to tracking them down. If you know of any candidates for inclusion send me the location and any history on the business that you might have. My hope is to produce piece for Experience Columbus that they can provide to visitors and residents alike who are interested in seeing a different perspective of the city.
1 comment:
Thanks for plugging my blog. You guys are spoiled for signs in USA, also there are 1,000s in France. Over in the UK they are pretty rare.
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