Holding On To History With Ghostsign Preservation Projects

Pobjoy Family Photograph Dynevor Street Shop Gloucester

Progress happens so quickly, and although most of the time it is appreciated, sometimes we can feel a little overwhelmed. The loss of our sense of home is real when familiar routines and scenes disappear forever. If you live in the same place for most of your life, the various landmarks and talking points can become more than just buildings and marketing. We become attached to the various feelings and advice that are offered by the things that surround us. By remembering to enjoy things we love that are from times gone by, we can help to remedy this sense of loss and transition. By reliving and rekindling old times, we can remind ourselves that although we have grown and a lot of things have changed, we are still the same person inside. Maybe this is why certain albums stand the test of time and get replayed decades after their release.  

The highstreets were once a natural river of human culture. Before the age of internet shopping, we’d all know the local and city highstreets. The rows of shops became our second home as every week or so we’d go and visit them and look forward to browsing the shelves. It was not uncommon to bump into people you knew from school, work, religion, or your own road, as you’d wander the various frontages and peer in. Something that has been replaced by technology and disposable methods is the old painted signs. Their shadows, or ghosts, can often still be seen haunting the walls of the various buildings that line the way.  

By-gone product names and long-forgotten brands, the occasional success story in which we still buy the subject of the advert, we can remember the past and feel connected to our own by enjoying these almost lost pieces of pop culture. Before they all disappear completely, like-minded artists and history fans are helping to keep them alive by repainting them. Old fashioned adverts often make modern decorative art in the home, so the natural step is to relive the past at large with these shopfront versions of the old message.  

In the British city of Gloucester, a trend of repainting ghostsigns has begun thanks to the handywork of one talented and historically minded artist. Tash Frootko (BBC) was able to find photographs of the original signs after contacting the previous shop owners. The turn of the century hand painted signs were once striking visages on Dynevor Street, Gloucester and now have been lovingly restored to appear exactly how they once did. The theme seems to have continued as other artists and property owners are beginning to follow suit.   
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The people of Gloucester are not alone in their love of the past’s simplicity. A site by a guy called Sam Roberts is dedicated to mapping these hidden gems across London and beyond. Visitors are free to upload and submit their own photographs meaning that the site now has an encyclopaedia of images from around the globe. It was not just a British invention as ghostsigns have been spotted and documented in many countries. Sam Roberts has dedicated so much time and energy to the study and effect of ghostsigns around London that he was able to write a thorough and intriguing book all about them. Well worth a look.  
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