Who or what is a Wall Dog? Until yesterday I didn't know. Clue - Norman Rockwell was once one. How does a Wall Dog connect to Ghost Signs. Ghost Signs are those old fading advertisements that were painted on buildings. In one of the communities there is one painted on an old grain elevator. The elevator hasn't been in use for at least 50 years and the sign is crystal clear.
I was reading the recent copy of "Montana Magazine" and came upon the article "Ghost Sign Scrutiny" by Claudia Rapkoch https://montanamagazine.com/ghost-sign-scrutiny-butte-grapples-with-how-restore-outside-ads/ . She says wall dogs were sign painters hired by companies to paint advertisements across the country.
I loved this quote from the story by Nancy Bennett- "Wall dogs is what the old-time painters were called that did the company signs like Bull Durham and Coca-Cola. They earned the nickname because they worked like dogs on the wall all day," she said. "We honor and respect the history of these signs by developing a plan that accurately restores the original colors but doesn't make it look too new."
We have quite a few ghost signs in Billings. I think it would be a cool citizen history project to photograph and document the signs that still exist in our communities.
The Wall Dogs are a group of sign painters and muralists that are trying to keep the old skills alive. I found their website here http://www.thewalldogs.com/.
Further Exploration
Ghost Signs of Fort Collins http://www.fcgov.com/historicpreservation/pdf/ghost-signs-doc.pdf
Ghost Sign Weekly http://blog.jeannemelliott.com/
Meet the Ghost Sign Hunters http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/nov/05/-sp-meet-ghost-sign-hunters-hand-painted-adverts
Ghostsigns The Ads http://www.hatads.org.uk/ads/ghostsigns.aspx
Flickr: Ghost Signs https://www.flickr.com/groups/10285999@N00/
Ghost Sign Project http://ghostsignproject.com/
I was reading the recent copy of "Montana Magazine" and came upon the article "Ghost Sign Scrutiny" by Claudia Rapkoch https://montanamagazine.com/ghost-sign-scrutiny-butte-grapples-with-how-restore-outside-ads/ . She says wall dogs were sign painters hired by companies to paint advertisements across the country.
I loved this quote from the story by Nancy Bennett- "Wall dogs is what the old-time painters were called that did the company signs like Bull Durham and Coca-Cola. They earned the nickname because they worked like dogs on the wall all day," she said. "We honor and respect the history of these signs by developing a plan that accurately restores the original colors but doesn't make it look too new."
We have quite a few ghost signs in Billings. I think it would be a cool citizen history project to photograph and document the signs that still exist in our communities.
The Wall Dogs are a group of sign painters and muralists that are trying to keep the old skills alive. I found their website here http://www.thewalldogs.com/.
Further Exploration
Ghost Signs of Fort Collins http://www.fcgov.com/historicpreservation/pdf/ghost-signs-doc.pdf
Ghost Sign Weekly http://blog.jeannemelliott.com/
Meet the Ghost Sign Hunters http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/nov/05/-sp-meet-ghost-sign-hunters-hand-painted-adverts
Ghostsigns The Ads http://www.hatads.org.uk/ads/ghostsigns.aspx
Flickr: Ghost Signs https://www.flickr.com/groups/10285999@N00/
Ghost Sign Project http://ghostsignproject.com/
