Another large Indian Root Pills sign...in hiding

There's a large sign hidden behind the left wall of this yellow terrace house on Nicholson Street, North Fitzroy:

It's a large blue Indian Root Pills sign taking up the entire wall, and similar to the recently uncovered one just one block south on the same street. Here's a pic, taken from my post on this year's uncovering: http://findingtheradiobook.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/spectacular-ghost-sign-uncovering-in.html:

How do I know the hidden sign is there? A previous uncovering from 2001, photographed by Ian Harrison Hill. The photo was bought by the State Library of Victoria, which describes it thus:

Shows the north wall of 562 Nicholson Street, North Carlton, showing two painted signs promoting Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills. Signs revealed by the demolition of the building at 566 Nicholson Street. 

Note: it's actually in North Fitzroy, not North Carlton - that's the other side of the street.

I can't show the photo of the 2001 uncovering because it's under copyright. But you can see the photo online here:

http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/92495.

The company behind Indian Root Pills must have had one helluva marketing budget in its heyday!

ghost signs of Geelong

Today I went to visit the new Geelong branch of The Lab, the technology club for kids with Asperger's Syndrome that I co-run: www.thelab.org.au. For the non-Melburnians reading this, Geelong is a regional centre with 180,000 people, 75 kms to the west of Melbourne.

So as usual I put the bike in the back of the car, and, after leaving The Lab, went for an afternoon jaunt through the central part of town.

There were quite a few good ghost signs around, even though much of the old port area has been renovated to within an inch of its life. I wanted to take a look around Corio and other less pampered  areas, but ran out of time before it started to get dark - next time.

I should also mention that passing by the vast old Ford factory complex on the way into town, I was reminded of this week's announcement that Ford will quit its Australian operations after nearly a century headquartered in Geelong - the photo below (courtesy of Wikipedia) shows its first model, the Model T, at the launch of the Geelong HQ in 1925:

So soon, the Ford plant will have its own ghost signs, and the local economy will lose thousands of jobs and millions of dollars. Today though, the place was buzzing, although quite a number of shops are already for sale or lease, so you have to wonder about the years ahead.

Here are the signs - a few are not technically ghost signs (since the businesses are still running) but they were too good to leave out:

See the Las Vegas sign in the distance? Oh for a zoom.

From ironmongers to users of steel poles...

Brilliant old shop. Was still Griffiths Books until recently...now for sale

Griffiths has its own painted ghost sign too

 

No expense spared to create that sign...

Not a ghost sign here...just an awesome example of car park lettering.

Looks out over what is now an empty lot.

 

 

 

Once a warehouse on the port, now Deakin University

Back of the same building

Not so ritzy any more.

In the past, Geelong seems to have had a thing for bas-relief signs. Here are just some of the others I saw: