Ghost signs, also known as faded ads, those painted signs we’ve probably all seen, are those ads usually painted on the side of a brick building. They advertise such things as Omega Oil or Mail Pouch chewing tobacco. I fell in love with these signs years ago, and that love affair coincided with my love of history. Whenever I see one I invariably pull over to photograph it. Here are some of my favorite ghost signs.

Above, Harlem is home to a particularly good example of a well-preserved ghost sign for Omega Oil. Omega Oil was an all-purpose oil that probably amounted to no more than snake oil. 

Advertisement for Sinclair Oil is painted on corregated tin,  Cody, WY.

A ghost sign selling signs in Astoria, OR.

An old ad for Bull Durham Smoking Tobacco in Oakland, OR.

For more examples, visit my Instagram feed.