the [normal] sign

1

The Normal vol. IDetroit’s Painted Supergraphic

Ben Rambadt

3

Image Left : Hopps Hardware ghost sign (ca. 1950) and Sponge

Bob Square Pant s (ca. 2009) share a wall in Detroit , MI1

Photograph taken May 5, 2010

[Normal] SignDetroit’s Painted Supergraphic

Ben Rambadt

4

[Ghost] SignDetroit’s Painted Past

Image Right : Honor Bright Ghost Sign

(ca. 1920). Downtown Detroit , MI2

Photograph taken December 19, 2010

6

Image Right : Goodrich Ser vice Station

(ca. 1940) Downtown Detroit , MI.4

Photograph taken July 24, 2010

They are the wall signs of a lost civilization—America’s early supergraphics. These signs speak of another time, the infancy of American advertising.”3

“

8

In the late 19th century and first half of

the 20th century Ghost Signs took off when

the development of cities escalated and

vacant sides of buildings were prime spots

for ads. Prior to and after the development

of the roadside billboard, hand-painted

advertisements were the most effective and

logical way to expose a company’s logo to the

public consumer. Large corporations would

commission and send out talented artists,

who were skilled chemists and daredevils, to

take on the job of traveling around the city

and countryside to paint large format ads on

commissioned buildings . Not only had these

signs created an image for companies, they

also provided employment, unique ways of

utilizing architecture, and subconsciously

printed a history of Detroit that has lasted to

today.

The Early Painted Ad

Image Right : Woodward Avenue

Detroit , MI (ca. 1910).5

10

Atlas Furniture Company

Gratiot Ave. Detroit , MI (ca. 1930)6

Photograph taken Januar y 16, 2010

Har tz Building Ghost Sign

Detroit , MI (ca. 1930)7

Photograph taken June 16, 2010

6 7

11

Corner For t St . near Ambassador Bridge

Detroit , MI (ca. 1935)8

Photograph taken July 31, 2008

8

12

The people who worked for the large companies during the heydays of

hand painted advertisements were called “Wall Dogs” or “Letterheads”.

Work was a combination of grunt, chemistry, and art; giving Wall Dogs

their own unique character of being rough yet skilled artists. Most of

the men doing this job had backgrounds in the arts from either aca-

demia or from being an apprentice. The first couple of years on the job

a painter would not even paint a sign, they would stand back, watch

the master-painter, and learn the trade as a handed-down skill. This

method of learning is still being used today by the larger sign painting

companies that still remain in the United States.

The Wall Dogs would travel around the city with their paint kits to

commissioned wall spaces, working as quickly as possible to get one

sign painted per day. Then they would camp over night in a makeshift

shelter or hotel and move on to the next location early in the morning.

These artists would be gone from home for months at a time, improv-

ing their skill and creating images of America’s past.

9

Wrigley’s Double Mint Gum (ca. 1910)

Wall Dogs with scaffolding9


Image Right : Two people painting

sign on scaffolding. (ca. 1940)10

13

10

14

11

15

...Detroit ghost ads become a part of the local landscape...”12

Image Left : Carhar tt Ghost Sign (ca. 1955)

Corner Kercheval and Eastlawn Detroit , MI11


“

16

...in a way that’s far different from modern printed billboard ads.”12

“

Image Right : Chips and Beer Ghost Signs

(ca. 1965) Detroit , MI13

Photograph taken Februar y 28, 2009

17

13

18

[Commercial Folk] SignDetroit’s Normal Sign On The Street

Image Right : Abandoned Beer and Wine shop

Detroit , MI14

Photograph taken December 10, 2003

19

14

20

The most effective signs are the most succinct and the least subtle.”15

“

Image Right : Abandoned Auto Repair Shop

Detroit , MI16

Photograph taken October 1, 2010

21

16

22

The ghost sign heyday lives on in spirit

throughout Detroit on the walls that host the

craftsmanship of artists from the turn of the

nineteenth century. Today in Detroit, there still

lives a craftsmanship of sign painting that has

pronounced itself on all the secondary streets

from Greenfield and Puritan. These signs

are the products of small businesses looking

to make a name for themselves by means of

either subtle or sensational spectacles of art

in advertising. This form of art is one that

does not fully employ a single level of art skill

like the sign painters from the early 1900s.

They have trained for years to acquire the

proficiency we see today in the ghost signs,

but today rather a mixture of both skilled and

novice artists occupy the work that is called,

“Commercial Folk Art.”

The New Painted Sign

Image Right : Phase One Car Wash

7714 Gratiot Ave. Detroit , MI17

23

17

24

18 19

23 24 25

Images 18-26: Photographs of Detroit , MI storefront s on secondar y street s display an array of ar tist s experience and quality.

25

In Detroit, wall ads are found mostly along secondary roads in the neighborhoods, on the sides of small brick buildings. Some are ill-proportioned, crookedly lettered, or poorly drawn. Others are nothing more than a few colorful words scrawled next to a door.”27

20 21 22

26

“

26

...they’re inexpensive, eye-catching, and long-lasting, and in a city mired in economic misery, they’re still in demand.”28

“

29

27

In response to Detroit’s recent economy, business owners have been

more compelled to resort to an advertisement different than the

normal, more expensive billboard or vinyl signage. The paint used for

these signs is wielded by either the store owner themselves, a friend

who knows a thing or two about painting signs, or hiring an actual

artist who has trained in the trade and has much more experience.

It is interesting to see the range of skill and detail in the signage.

Commercial Folk Art illustrates an ambitious attitude of Detroit and

its people do the best they can with what they have. These elaborate

store front pieces of commerce and art display a spirit and hope that

the people of Detroit hold onto and believe in as they continue to re-

paint or touch up possibly their only and best means of marketing.

Image Left : Abandoned local Grandy Market . Detroit , MI29


28

30

29

They seek to be independent of, and free from, the burden of the second-class treatment and to be equitably compensated for their physical, mental, and economic contributions. In this regard each sign, whether unselfconsciously sincere, deliberately ironic, calculated, or naive, is as articulate as the Declaration of Independence. It is about the desire to have a piece of the dream.”31 Image Left : Sam’s Loans, Money in 1 Min.

Corner Michigan and Wabash Detroit , MI30

Photograph taken June 30, 2008

“

30

32

31

A muralist once told Sweet Juniper that Detroit hardware stores paint their wares on the sides of the buildings to advertise products to those who are illiterate. In 1998, the National Institute for Literacy estimated that 47% of Detroit adults were functionally illiterate.”33

Image Left : McDougall Hardware

On street corner in Detroit , MI32


“

32

An apparent difference from this generation of hand-painted wall

ads from that of the earlier hand-painted ads at the beginning of

the twentieth century is the use of wall space and the building

types available. In Detroit the best available spaces for business

owners to display their products is either on their own building or

on another building besides their own if their budget permits. With

these businesses lacking deep pockets, they must turn to utilizing

their whole building and painting ads on every surface of it. This may

seem like an overly desperate approach to advertising, but in Detroit

desperate is something that allows businesses to be seen. This form

of advertisement in Detroit is unique because it displays a side of

Detroit’s people who survive for themselves and for the benefit of the

city.

Image Right : Mr. Fix-It

5916 W. Warren Detroit , MI34

33

34

34

The artists commissioned to paint these elaborate store fronts and

building sized advertisements do their job partially for the money,

but mostly for the joy that they get out of utilizing their artistic skills.

Some names that appear on these paintings are some of the more

advanced and experienced artists in this line of work: Michael Wilson,

Scott Caudle, Jeff Young, Kevin Patrick, Marty (MPH), Klein, Norman,

and Richard.35 These artists are the handy work for those needing a

lift up from the blight that seems to consume the city and the exterior

of the buildings. Each artist has their own quality and characteristic

flair, from the bright colors used, to cartoon-like characters, and

more abstract “kaleidoscopic” colorful works of art like that of Kevin

Patrick. Many of these artists paint ads and store business signs

on the side to help finance some of their personal endeavors of

supplying their own paint studios for their art work.

Images 36, 37, 38, 39:

Michael Wilson36

Scott Caudle37

Scott Caudle’s Paint Van38

Talkative Michael Wilson39

35

36 37

39 38

36

40

4142

37

It makes them believe. It gives them hope that they have a future.”43

“

Images: 40, 41, 42

Nakoma’s Car Wash, Detroit , MI40—Photograph taken May 13, 2009

Washitaw Barber N Hair Stylist , 11391 E. McNichols, Detroit , MI41

Aunt Dot s Fish & Chips, Detroit , MI —Photograph taken April 9, 200942

38

Can a greater more positive effect be made in Detroit from these types of hand-painted signage?

39

When Detroit improves, will there continue to be a need for hand-painted signs on second hand stores?

40

1. Photograph, Flickr User: The Gallopping Geezer, Web

January 31, 2011. http://www.flickr.com/photos/

gallopping_geezer/4597259929/.

2. Photograph, Flickr User: Detroit Liger, Web.


detroitliger/5287082600/sizes/l/in/photostream/

3. Arthur Krim, foreword to Ghost Signs: Brick Wall

Signs in America. by WM. Stage. (ST Publications Inc. ,

1989).

4. Photograph, Flickr User: DerekDetroit Photography,

Web. January 31, 2011. http://www.flickr.com/photos/

detroitderek/4866035522/.

5. Photograph, “Eureka Vacuum,” Web. January 21, 2011.

http://www.shorpy.com/node/9767.

6. Photograph, Flickr User: LindaB., Web January 25,

2011. http://www.flickr.com/photos/14672929@

N02/4288738915/.

7. Photograph, Flickr User: Adore707, Web January

25, 2011. http://www.flickr.com/photos/42814161@

N03/4712519510/.

8. Photograph, Flickr User: LindaB., Web January 25,


N02/2719686255/.

9. Photograph, Flickr User: retrosigns, Web January


N03/3581138429/in/set-72157619327713736/.

10. Photograph, “Sign painters, Ames, Iowa,” Web

January 26, 2011. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/

fsa1997005725/PP/.

11. Photograph, Flickr User: Detroit Liger, Web


detroitliger/2559408149/.

12. Brian O’Connor, “Signs of the Times: Exterior ad

painting are century-old ghosts,” The Detroit News,

Last Updated: May 30, 2007 1:00am, Web January

18, 2011. http://detnews.com/article/20070530/

METRO/108010013/Signs-of-the-times--Exterior-ad-

paintings-are-century-old-ghosts.

13. Photograph, Flickr User: daycoppens, Web


daycoppens/3330053772/in/set-72157603986418960/.

14. Photograph, Flickr User: wdebalt, Web January 21,


N00/3573754894/.

15. Harris, Bill, foreword to Talking Shops: Detroit

Commercial Folk Art. by David Clements. (A Great

Lakes Books Publication, 2005), 7.



detroitliger/5066706232/in/photostream/.

17. Photograph, David Clements, Talking Shops:

Detroit Commercial Folk Art, (A Great Lakes Books

Publication, 2005), 64.

18. Photograph, Flickr User: Katherine of Chicago, Web

January 30, 2011.

19. Photograph, Flickr User: Katherine of Chicago, Web

January 30, 2011.

20. Photograph, Flickr User: Joey Harrison: Web


joeyharrison/238119473/.

21. Photograph, Flickr User: buckshot.jones, Web

February 1, 2011. http://www.flickr.com/photos/

buckshotjones/1719988565/sizes/l/.

22. Photograph, Flickr User: pjchmiel, Web January

30, 2011. http://www.flickr.com/photos/

pjchmiel/4099484155/.

23. Photograph, Flickr User: Friend_in_Detroit, February


N08/4432600094/sizes/l/.

24. Photograph, Flickr User: jesjozwik, January 30, 2011.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jesjozwik/2822455153/.

25. Photograph, Flickr User: HiperOranz, Web


mushrie/3016543053/in/set-72157608797605173/.

26. Photograph, Flickr User: Friend_in_Detroit,

Web February 1, 2011. http://www.flickr.com/

photos/41647002@N08/4431314061/sizes/l/in/

photostream/.

27. Detroitblogger John, “The writing on the wall,”

Metro Times, September 16, 2009, Web January 13,

2011. http://www2.metrotimes.com/news/story.

asp?id=14357.




asp?id=14357.

41







31. Harris, Bill, foreword to Talking Shops: Detroit

Commercial Folk Art. by David Clements. (A Great

Lakes Books Publication, 2005), 7.

32. Photograph, Flickr User: metroblossom, Web


metroblossom/3560994148/.

33. Flickr User: metroblossom, Web January

30, 2011. http://www.flickr.com/photos/

metroblossom/3560994148/.







asp?id=14357.

36. Photograph, Detroitblogger John, “The writing on the

wall,” Metro Times, September 16, 2009, Web January

13, 2011. http://www2.metrotimes.com/news/story.

asp?id=14357




asp?id=14357.




asp?id=14357.




asp?id=14357.

40. Photograph, ¬Flickr User: Joey Harrison, Web


joeyharrison/3790432701/.







43. Detroitblogger John, “The writing on the wall,” Metro

Times, September 16, 2009, Web January 13, 2011.

http://www2.metrotimes.com/news/ =14357.

the [normal] sign

Documents