Fresh from Preston: Apax Gaskets and Holsom Crumpets

The other day while driving on Bell Street in Preston, I glanced down an alley and saw what looked like a ghost sign.

So yesterday, I went to investigate. Here's what I saw:

The one in front is for Apax gaskets, tucked away in a back alley behind High Street. Some of the signs on the factory look recent. They're still listed in online directories, but their website is down. Are these ghost signs? Maybe, maybe not. But they're great:

But the best sign was the other one, for Holsom Crumpets. Love the old-school misspelling of 'wholesome' and the fact that the sign is quite hidden away:

Here's an ad from 1977 for Holsom Crumpets, which is just as delightfully daggy as the name:

But this looks like it was post- the company takeover, when they were making Holson in Gippsland rather than (I presume) Preston. The brand appears to have changed hands in 1969. See: http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1300&dat=19691119&id=iuFUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=rZADAAAAIBAJ&pg=5259,4072598