A group of others' sign pix from here, there and everywhere

First one from New York (thanks Darren)

And one from Italy, in the town of Menaggio on Lake Como. It's been painted over now that a supermarket has taken over the old train station (thanks Rocco):

Fernando has sent sent through some beauties too.

First of Fernando's is another typically grand Indian Root Pills sign (see this post for some context), on what looks like a chicory kiln in Bacchus March in the Victorian country:

 A brilliant sign from the regional centre of Bendigo, where I've been meaning to go myself for a sign hunt:

And lastly, Fernando's Albert Park discovery:

Here's one Geoff shared with me, taken by Pete Garfield in Echuca on the Murray River:

And other shared (with info below) by Geoff via Darren. This one's also from Bendigo:

Old Cohn Bros. painted sign on the side of 69 Bridge Street, Bendigo as painted by Fank Barr back in the 1950's. One of the last two 19th century shop buildings left in Bridge Street, Bendigo which was once the main street of town. All the others have been pulled down and replaced with more modern shops or houses. 67-69 Bridge Street, Bendigo.

Lewis & Skinner exhibition has started at the VU Library

Following our recent exhibition of the Lewis and Skinner signwriting documents in Yarraville, I've been speaking to folks at our university library about holding an exhibition there. It was a no-brainer really - the items were already framed and ready to go, the big map was in storage, and it was just a matter of finding cabinets and a space on the wall.

So it's on until April, thanks to the very helpful library folks. The big map is next to the service desk at the main library entrance, and the items are dotted throughout the library in display cases - see photos and this Victoria Uni news story. Just excuse the blue laminated signs...these 'on brand' items are not my doing :)

Found - painted remnants of tram advertising. Now it's time for a game of jigsaw!

Yesterday, a friend came over with some painted strips of composite board. Patrick owns a landscape design business and had been salvaging wood from the mechanics' pits in the Brunswick tram depot.

The boards seem to be the remnants of painted ads that used to adorn Melbourne's trams, as can be seen here in this photo on Wikipedia, and  video by Yarra Trams:

Below are three photos of the fragments. They appear to be ads from the 1960s that were cut up and reused. If you can tell what any of these pieces used to sell, post a comment and I'll buy you a coffee!

Nostalgic survivor: the first Australian reference to a ghost sign?

Today a colleague lent me a book he bought at Savers for $5 (thanks Craig). The book, published in 1975 and by John Larkins & Bruce Howard, is called 'The Great Australian Book of Nostalgia'.

In it, there's a photo depicting a painted  Aeroplane Jelly sign on a railway bridge in NSW. It's an example of the 'Whistling Boy' ad from 1938. I took a quick snap with my phone (excuse poor quality):

The 'nostalgic survivor' caption is pretty ironic, both in itself and the fact that the book is itself a nostalgic survivor. Through the book, the (I assume long gone) painted advertising sign has risen from the dead once more, and now here it is, infinitely reproducible in digital form.

And on that note here' another survivor, a 1930s cinema ad for the very same product (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJZ2w6Q_Uww):