Category Archives: Illinois

Ghost Sign Harvest #4 – Illinois, Ohio, New York

As I continue across the country, I am photographing signs I already know about, and some that were unknown to me.  Frequently, the ones unknown to me are the best.

Revisiting Champaign, IL, I found some signs I knew about, and some I did not.  The Lee Work Clothes has been exposed by a tear down and is in great shape.

Also, in Champaign, IL, is this nice Owl Cigar / Coca Cola sign.

I went to Chenoa, IL (along the old US 66) to photograph this Selz Shoe sign, even though I suspected, correctly, that it is a muralized sign.  The newer paint is peeling off faster than the original paint.

However, also in Chenoa, IL, I found this wonderful multi-layer sign, unknown to me beforehand, that will require enhancement to decipher its contents.  This sign is a true example of a “ghost sign”.

Another sign unknown to me before i arrived is this America’s Cup Coffee sign in La Salle, IL.

This complex sign is also in La Salle, IL.  I don’t have the time to properly decipher it while driving across the US

I returned to Princeton, IL, to photograph this great sign for Carriages and Harness. For years, it has been partially covered by a banner. When i saw on Google Street View, photographed late last year, that the banner had been removed, this sign was high on my must-revisit list.

Springtime, in Wilmington, IL, provides nice flowers in front of a sign that I wanted to photograph. I was able to scoot around behind the various branches to get complete coverage.

I found this Ivory Soap sign in Brockport, NY, on Google Street View a couple of years ago just after I had driven by.  I was able to photograph it last night as the sun moved around the corner of this south facing sign.

Another sign, unknown to me, is this sign for Battle Ax tobacco and Gold Medal Flour – perfectly balanced “ghosts”.  I had to use my pole rig to photograph the sign over the edge of the adjoining building. It is located in West Unity, Ohio.

Ghost Sign Harvest #3

I’m so busy driving, photographing, and downloading photos that I don’t have much time to devote to posting.  Here are several from Oklahoma, Missouri, and Illinois.

I had been to Muskogee OK before, but, as usual, there were plenty of more signs to photograph.

 

There is a very nice sign on the wall, I think for tobacco, in this alley in Joplin, MO. I had photographed it last October, but there were bad shadows.  I was hoping for overcast, but it cleared up before i got there.  Since this is a south facing wall, and since it is past spring equinox, by waiting for the sun to “move” slightly north of the E-W orientation of the wall, I was able to photograph it in complete shade.  I wasn’t the only photographer out there.

There is a sign for Mail Pouch Tobacco in St. Elmo, Illinois, that appears to have been partially repainted.

 

One of the main ghost signs I wanted to photograph on this trip is this recently exposed sign for America’s Cup Coffee in Mattoon, IL.  I had been to Mattoon before, but it was still covered. I found it on Google Street View.

I shot close to one hundred individual images using my telephoto to stitch together and “preserve” this sign

I had photographed this other sign in Mattoon on a previous visit, but the lighting was better on this visit.