Revisiting the Dennison

When we're asked about our favorite ghost signs, we include the Dennison Hotel, with its odd room-to-bath ratio. We've featured it many times here, looking at the sign on the south, the hanging signs on the front, and the Quaker Oats ad on the north.

But the other day we noticed something else.

Below the Bill Haas signature, there's something else.

We can't remember if we've noticed it before and hadn't mentioned it, but if we have, it's worth seeing again.

The Georgia

On a private residence on 9th, between Elm and Plum.

Was it an inn?  A club?

More in Store from Hamilton

On Ludlow, just off of Third Street, the STOR of what presumably was "STORE" is still legible, and there's more beneath it, and to the right.

Well, this doesn't help.  Maybe there's something on the east side of the building.

Oh, yeah.  Very refreshing.

Although, and maybe we're crazy, the script of the familiar Coca-Cola doesn't quite look right.

4 Floors

Again, in Hamilton, on Third.

Much of this one has gone away, but we can still make out a "4" to the left, and we assume the "OORS" was preceded with a "FL" or maybe a "D".

However, our trusty assistant, Google Maps, indicates only three floors and maybe an attic.

But more importantly, look what's across the street!

No. It's gone now. Painted over. 

Hamilton!

Work took us to Hamilton, where we found this.

There's a lot going on.

Let's deconstruct.

To the left, there's what appears to be Strauss & Co. Clothiers sharing space with another sign.  (Note the different letter styles between the Strauss and whatever is below it.)

To the right, there's at least two big brand names of something painted over one another.  Perhaps at one time there was the word "Admiral".  But there's also what appears to be an X in the name as well.

Below that, we can just make out the word "Cigars".

A quick peek at Google Earth images from High Street and 3rd indicates that sometime between July 2013 and July 2015, this was uncovered.

Now that you have it back, Hamilton, keep it around!

Two Signs for the Price of One

We have featured this one before, but we're revisiting it based upon new conjecture.

Firstly, the Bakery and Confectionery sign at the top may be connected to this on Clay Street in OTR.

We base this simply on the wording.

And as for the Globe Furniture part of the sign, well, there's the Globe factory near Findlay Market, 

And, Ronny Salerno includes some Globe history in his well-researched book, Fading Ads of Cincinnati.  (There's a book signing this weekend at Bromwell's.)

Open for Biz

Revisited

On Race, across from the Taft Ale House.

How much longer do you think this has?

Be sure to read the Omaha World Herald's feature on the ghost signs of, where else, but Omaha.

The author maps out the signs, many of which we don't have.

And compare it with our own collection of Omaha ghost signs.

Maybe, just maybe, our Western Field Agent can grab a few more for us.

360

On the southwest corner of Downtown, there's a quiet street named McFarland.

We've shown you this ghost sign before, but this is a better picture.

On the other side of the same building, there's this.

And BIS is still in biz.

Walk a block south, to 2nd Street, and BIS also has this.

Which, if you follow the blue line around, brings you to this.

Which shares a wall with this.

Which is next door to this, which we show you again for reference.

By the way, you can get a signed copy of "Fading Ads of Cincinnati" Downtown, today.

Big in Dayton

It's not faded, and it's not a ghost, because the company still operates.

But, it's painted on, and sometimes, just sometimes, that's good enough.

On East First Street, on the edge of downtown Dayton.

Hollywood on the Ohio

We've been told this building at the corner of Liberty and Central Parkway was a film distribution office.

It received historic preservation tax credits earlier this year, so look for the lettering to come down.

Green Street

This one escaped us for a long time, which is odd because we already found one on the other side of the building.

Picture in Picture

Found this photo hanging on a wall in my building.

And we have a more modern photo of it. 

Read more at Queen City Discovery.

Believe It or Not

We still find signs we haven't noticed before.

True, they're not as bright or obvious as this Barr's Loans sign on Vine, above 12th.

They're often so faded they might hardly be worth mentioning.

All that's visible on this one are the letters "H H".

But, they are out there.

Oh, and pick yourself up a copy of Faded Ads of Cincinnati, available now.

Look Down

Our battle cry for ghost sign hunting is "Look up!"

Well, if we had a battle cry, it might be.

But it's just as important to look down too.

We didn't actually see this one. Ronny Salerno did, as we did some hunting with him earlier this year.

That's actually him in the reflection in the door.

Did we mention his book on ghost signs comes out today?

There's a book signing at Igby's this evening.

Archived

Some older shots we hadn't used yet.

No, it hasn't snowed here.

Yet.

At Sycamore and Court. 

This is taken from inside the Hamilton County Courthouse.

And from 7th and Sycamore.

Construction of a new hotel Downtown has made seeing this a little more difficult.

Promo

A fellow we know has written a book on a topic near and dear to our hearts.

We think you can guess what it is.

It comes out November 30, with a party at Igby's.

We haven't seen an advance copy, but we're sure it'll make a great Christmas gift.

(And not just because this site is mentioned.)

From Michigan to Texas

Submitted by Mr. B. Johnson as he patrols San Antonio, Texas.

A cursory Google search turned up no hard evidence of this business, but plenty of stories of furniture made in "Furniture City" and exported to San Antonio.

In the meantime, please peruse our inventory from Michigan.

Better Seen in Person

We'll admit: this is not our finest example of a ghost sign.

But, we believe there IS something in this photograph.

Looking up Race, from the northeast corner of Washington Park.

Enhance.

See it yet?

Okay, it looks like simple discoloration, we admit.

(We used a real digital camera with a real lens on this.)

And oddly enough, the phone camera seems to bring it out.

And in person, it's as clear as a bell.  Provided the light is good.

When the Light is Right

For years, we've been looking at the Pendleton Art Center, wondering why it was devoid of ghostsigns.  But, last week, one was revealed in all its glory.

No. Really.  It's there.  Or at least it was.

We can just make out "THE UNITED STATE" as it rapidly fades away.

And above the entrance to the warehouse-turned-arts collective:

Omaha Alley

Again, from our Western Field Agent: Mr. D.L. Hudson.

Fall

We look forward to an updated version of this sign, from Mr. D.L. Hudson, once the leaves have fallen.

Agents of G.H.O.S.T.

That doesn't stand for anything. It's just that we've been getting more submissions from our field agents than we ourselves have been finding.

These two come to us from Mr. B. Johnson, upon the occasion of his recent trip to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for the marriage of his son.

(We believe this may be the Nelson Bros. building in the former photograph.)