New online article about yours truly...I can now officially call myself a 'signage archaeologist'!

Here's a new online article about my ridiculous/obsessive/dogged/unhinged/ (take your pic) interest in painted advertising signs.

It's by Don McKernan who works at Danthonia Designs, a custom sign workshop in Inverell, northern NSW. Don also has his brilliant blog on the topic, and I'm honoured to be featured in it:

http://www.danthoniadesigns.com/blog/stefan-schutt-signage-archaeologist-of-the-south/

A Nugget shoe polish sign, an old photo, and being sprung looking over a Carlton fence

On the corner of Canning and Neill Streets in Carlton is the remnant of a large painted Nugget shoe polish sign. You wouldn't know it these days, though, because the yard facing the wall is covered in foliage.

But that wasn't the case in 1983 when John Hunter photographed the sign:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnhuntermelbourne/11478249176/in/set-72157638901339124

Inspired by John's photo, I went to take a look yesterday. The yard, as you can see in the 1983 photo, has a high wall around it. So I put the bike against the wall and climbed on it to take a look.

The only thing was: there was someone in the yard. They very nicely asked me what I was doing  - I'm not sure I would have been as even-tempered.

Flustered, I explained myself - and the resident (who had also been interested in the sign and taken photos) was gracious enough to open the back gate, let me climb over the washing line and take a few pics. Here they are :)

A unique kind of ghost sign: Victorian-era stonemason names etched on a wall in a Fitzroy back street

Some years ago a friend showed me this place in the back streets of Fitzroy and I've been trying to find it ever since. Today I found it again, on Hanover Street - the place where it appears Victorian stonemasons left their mark during the building of a grand bluestone residence in 1880 (the date as recorded in one of the marks; see below).

It looks like the marks were made in a previously unexposed area of the stone wall that, judging by the light colour of the stone compared to the stones around it (see last pic), used to be covered by a building - that is, before the flats were built next door.  Now they look over the washing lines of the folks who live in the flats.

A few from Bayles, Gippsland

The other day we went to my partner's family home for Christmas. It's on a cattle farm in the country south-east of Melbourne, in flat former swamp country near the foothills of the Great Dividing Range. We decided to go back to Melbourne via the tiny village of Bayles, where the school bus used to stop to let my partner and her classmates get sweets at the local store.

Main street of Bayles

Bayles is only 20 kms from the rapidly expanding suburban fringe of Cranbourne and Pakenham, but it's a whole world away. It has a brilliant old-school fauna park on the site of the former railway station with kangaroos, emus, ducks and birds. You walk in and pay a donation via a wooden box.

The main (well, basically only) street in Bayles has a great old-school motor garage and a great sign or two in what is now an antique/bric-a-brac shop:

Beautifully preserved, due to it being protected under a verandah.

A big collection of Melbourne ghost signs spotted in my travels

Here's a collection of Melbourne signs I've photographed over the last few months, and that I haven't had time to download off the phone and upload here. It's always a pleasure to stumble on new signs, even ones less spectacular than some of those posted recently.

Finding one can make a less-than-optimal day that much better (I know, tragic...):

CBD...wonder why I've never noticed this before

Richmond - brilliant palimpsest (and below)

Prahran (obviously)

North Fitzroy. In honour of this week's announcement that General Motors Holden will cease manufacturing in Australia after 60 years of producing Australia's 'own' car.

And now a group from around Glenferrie Road, Armadale and Malvern, mainly near Malvern station:

The front of the building is below on the left.

And here, notice how even some Victorian-era folks were grammatically challenged!

Once a milk bar, now a shi-shi gourmet deli opposite the Malvern tennis courts (darling). At least they kept the ice cream sign.

Once a Greek grocery, now a shi-shi eatery.

Now a few from around Hawksburn train station:

Old shop...can juuust make this out. The rest is covered by a big old red brick wall.

Now a few more....

North Fitzroy. Had to use the bad iPhone zoom. I'm pretty sure the one on the brick wall was a Robur Tea sign (you can see the 'tea')

North Melbourne

North Fitzroy

North Fitzroy (and following)...one of my favourite palimpsests.

Fitzroy

Ditto

Kensington

Kensington

Footscray...in honour of the former Forgers department store

Footscray

Ditto

Fawkner

CBD...a famous sign. I knew of the sign but stumbled on it completely by accident.

CBD

CBD

CBD - on display by RMIT

CBD - not a ghost sign but good nonetheless

Brunswick

Brunswick (and below)

Ivanhoe

Ivanhoe (and below)

Ivanhoe

Brunswick

Preston

Footscray...Little Saigon market is still in operation but the 60s sign is cool

Abbotsford

Abbotsford

Now where was that?

Armadale...a new sign on top of an old one that looks like an old one?