Another blast of Champaign

There's a lot going on on this one building, 

so let's zoom in to different sections.

At the very top: unreadable.

At the top: unreadable?

Followed by what appears

to be two vertical... COAL,

both small and large.

We're going to guess WAGNER and SON

On the eastern side of the building,

a giant arrow, pointing to the front.

We featured the southern face

of this same building yesterday,

but let's take a closer look.

Along the top

we found this.

And just a hint of a box.

Whatever was inside is gone now.

Uneeda?

 

As we walked away from the Majestic Motion Pictures find, (see previous entry),

we noticed this, and went around to the front of the block for a better view.

No dice.

So, we went back, into the alley, hoping something

would be visible. We were not disappointed.

The combination of the shadow and setting sun

means the photo ain't so great.

A lot of detail is lost.

But this is a layered beauty, and we believe it to be

an ad for Uneeda Biscuit.

(This may be our first Uneeda sign in person. There is

at least one in the collection from a loyal reader.)

Uneeda Biscuit signs, like Mail Pouch, Bull Durham,

and Coca-Cola signs, have a certain magic in the 

ghost sign community.

Or at least it seems that way to us.

Now entering Nebraska

 

Look at this beauty in Beatrice, Nebraska!!

Yet another Owl cigar sign, but there's much more.

There's the remnants of wholesale groceries across the top.

Argo Starch above the Straiton and Storm's Owl.

And another cent sign mixed in with at least three signs

in the lower right hand corner.

And if you'll note, the yellow block letters seem to spell Durham.

Directly below them we see "Toba" which leads us to believe

there's a Bull Durham tobacco sign mixed in there.

(Whoever painted on top of who, Owl or Bull Durham, this had

to be something of an advertising coup.)

And over on the left, there's a figure in a yellow circle

above a white panel.

(At first we thought it might be another version of the Owl Cigar owl,

but comparing it to yesterday's entry leads us to believe they're

quite different.)

Brilliant!!

Kudos to Stone Hollow Brewing for not destroying it.

(AND, after looking through our records, we found early photos

of this sign, before the building had been repurposed. Courtesy of

Ms. D. Walz.)

The last batch from Brookfield

 

If you're tired of "Brookfield this" and "Brookfield that" and

"Brookfield is so great" you're in luck. These are the last of the 

ghost signs from Brookfield.

You'd think this one would be in better shape...

Considering it had some protection from the elements.

As it is, we can only make out what appears to be

the numeral 5, and we're not completely sure of that.

Brookfield really appears to have been a major target for ads from

 Owl Cigars. We can't think of any other place we've seen two

and so close to one another. The owl is still slightly

visible on the right side, and we believe we see a 5¢ 

just to the left of the owl.

Could the 5¢ in the previous sign be another cigar ad?

In the upper right hand corner, we can make out 

what appears to be the word 'grocery'

in two different fonts, slightly overlaid each other. 

But we can't decipher the name across the top.

If you can interpret anything else from this sign, 

please let us know.

St. Louis-- You thought we were done

Oh, no. We're just getting started...

 with this beautiful neon sign. 

We saw no indication what the Knickerbocker was,

or if it still is.

One of the more rare categories we've found: automobiles.

So, it's always a treat when we do run across one.

And this is not the first sign advertising Buicks.

(But do also note the peculiar layering.)

St. Louis, part three: Back to Downtown

 

Pants!

We can only imagine how elaborate this was in its heyday.

All of these were found along Washington Avenue

Hats, pants, suits, skirts.

Yes, this was the Garment District.

Sweet Home Chicago

 

Broadway Square

Lakeview, where we had breakfast.

After that, our guide, Ms. J. Fiesta took us to 

Lincoln Park for the following treasures.

We feel confident one of the layered 

signs was "Quaker" as in oats.

Not strictly a ghost sign, but

still faded ad art, and we respect 

the Cafe Ba Ba Reeba! for it.

Sometimes zooming/getting closer

makes a sign more unreadable.

Another Cafe Ba Ba Reeba!, but also

a ghost sign above it!

"Children's"