Documenting ghost signs – ads on brick from another era

Several advertisements have survived on this building in downtown Schenectady, N.Y. You can see a Uneeda Biscuit ad at the top; the Boston One Price Clothing House at the bottom, and Seeley's 'The Star' Restaurant, an 1890's eatery, at far left. Photo by Chuck Miller.
Several advertisements have survived on this building in downtown Schenectady, N.Y. You can see a Uneeda Biscuit ad at the top; the Boston One Price Clothing House at the bottom, and Seeley's 'The Star' Restaurant, an 1890's eatery, at far left. Photo by Chuck Miller.
Several advertisements have survived on this building in downtown Schenectady, N.Y. You can see a Uneeda Biscuit ad at the top; the Boston One Price Clothing House at the bottom, and Seeley’s ‘The Star’ Restaurant, an 1890’s eatery, at far left. Photo by Chuck Miller.

ALBANY, N.Y. (ACNI) – They blend into the background, touting products like Pillsbury Flour and Bond Clothing for Men. They exist in big metropolitan areas and in small-town America, with such painted and fading mantras as “Chew Mail Pouch Tobacco” or “Uneeda Biscuit, the Perfect Soda Cracker.” And while the products they pitch may have long vanished from popular consumption, their original advertisements remain visible – almost – on the façades and sides of buildings and barns. To collectors and aficionados, they’re known as “ghost signs.”

I discovered several of these ghost signs on buildings in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy area of upstate New York. Many of these signs have paled to the level of near illegibility; others were painted over so many times, that with decades of elemental and environmental wear and tear, they’ve actually created multiple exposures, as one vintage ad competes with another for space on a plein-air canvas.

One of the most famous sets of ghost signs reflects the National Biscuit Company’s Uneeda Biscuit advertising campaign. While soda crackers were previously purchased in big barrels, where the customer filled up a bag with as many unbroken crackers as they could find, the National Biscuit Company advertised their line of “Uneeda Biscuits” – soda crackers wrapped in special protective pouches – with a million-dollar advertising campaign. Thousands of buildings were painted with “Uneeda Biscuit – The Perfect Soda Cracker.” The campaign was so successful, the signs were repainted over and over again, and today those signs are still visible, even though Uneeda Biscuits ceased production in 2007.

Another famous campaign was for Mail Pouch Tobacco. In exchange for a few dollars a year each, thousands of farmers agreed to have the words “CHEW Mail Pouch Tobacco” painted onto their barns. Nowadays, to have a Mail Pouch Tobacco barn is a status symbol in itself, and many of these barns have been restored, advertising intact, to achieve the status of historical sites. Mail Pouch also painted several brick city buildings in areas where barns were not found. Those ads have survived to this day as well.

Painted brick-face ads eventually were replaced by billboards, whose messages could be updated or replaced as quickly as a construction crew could roll out a new banner. Brick-face ads, on the other hand, had to be fully repainted by hand in order to stay presentable. Amazingly, these brick-face ghost signs often survive because the only way to really remove them is to either paint over them or knock the building down, removing the ad once and for all.

There are several tricks to capturing ghost signs on film. Because many of these ads have faded almost to nothingness, photographing these signs is best done after a late-day rain shower, where the colors have a sharper contrast upon the brick face. Other advertisements are only visible on cloudy, overcast days when one can best capture the ghost sign without direct sunlight burning into the ad.

The best place to find ghost signs? Look up. The tallest, oldest buildings often retain ghost signs that were painted on their facades 100 years ago. In an age before the Internet and billboards, painting an ad on the tallest building ensured that more people would see it from different locations. Sometimes a ghost ad will emerge after years of obscurity. A ghost ad I recently discovered in Schenectady, N.Y., had been blocked by the construction of a newer structure. When that second building burned to the ground, the ghost ad on the first building became visible for the first time in a century.

About the author:

Chuck Miller, a frequent contributor to Toy Collector Magazine and Auction Central News. His new book, Ghost Signs of the Capital District, (see book cover at bottom) is available through blurb.com:

http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail1196331

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Other online Web sites for ghost signs:

Mail Pouch Tobacco barns: http://www.ohiobarns.com/mpbarns/

Lost Landmarks: http://www.lostlandmarks.org

Copyright 2010 Auction Central News International. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE

One of several surviving Uneeda Biscuit 'ghost sign' advertisements, this one is on an apartment complex at the corner of 4th and Polk Streets in Troy, N.Y. You can make out the words 'The Perfect Soda Cracker' in upper left, the early Nabisco logo in upper right, and the words 'Uneeda Biscuit,' along with 'National Biscuit Company' at the bottom. Photo by Chuck Miller.
One of several surviving Uneeda Biscuit ‘ghost sign’ advertisements, this one is on an apartment complex at the corner of 4th and Polk Streets in Troy, N.Y. You can make out the words ‘The Perfect Soda Cracker’ in upper left, the early Nabisco logo in upper right, and the words ‘Uneeda Biscuit,’ along with ‘National Biscuit Company’ at the bottom. Photo by Chuck Miller.

This wall in Gloversville, N.Y. has been repainted several times with brickface ads; the ghost signs that still survive reference everything from Pillsbury flower to the local Chevrolet car dealership. Photo by Chuck Miller.
This wall in Gloversville, N.Y. has been repainted several times with brickface ads; the ghost signs that still survive reference everything from Pillsbury flower to the local Chevrolet car dealership. Photo by Chuck Miller.

The only remaining identification that this was once a music store on the corner of State and Martin Streets in Schenectady, N.Y. is the remnants of the word 'Accordions' as a ghost sign. Photo by Chuck Miller.
The only remaining identification that this was once a music store on the corner of State and Martin Streets in Schenectady, N.Y. is the remnants of the word ‘Accordions’ as a ghost sign. Photo by Chuck Miller.

Chanel treasures hit the auction block in Paris

Coco Chanel (1906-1999), photographed by Horst P. Horst in Paris, 1937. This 9 1/2-inch by 9 1/4-inch silver gelatin print, signed in pencil on verso by the photographer, was auctioned by Phillips de Pury on Sept. 16, 2006. Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and Phillips de Pury.
Coco Chanel (1906-1999), photographed by Horst P. Horst in Paris, 1937. This 9 1/2-inch by 9 1/4-inch silver gelatin print, signed in pencil on verso by the photographer, was auctioned by Phillips de Pury on Sept. 16, 2006. Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and Phillips de Pury.
Coco Chanel (1906-1999), photographed by Horst P. Horst in Paris, 1937. This 9 1/2-inch by 9 1/4-inch silver gelatin print, signed in pencil on verso by the photographer, was auctioned by Phillips de Pury on Sept. 16, 2006. Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and Phillips de Pury.

PARIS (AP) – Hundreds of fashionistas, collectors and would-be consumers with a dream jostled for a closer look at some of the more than 800 garments, accessories and shoes by the storied luxury giant Chanel that hit the auction blocks today.

Lots on display included iconic tweed skirt suits, classic chain handbags, 1980s-era ensembles in screaming hues by the label’s current designer, Karl Lagerfeld, and vintage haute couture gowns by Mademoiselle Chanel herself.

The organizer, auctioneer Pierre Cornette de Saint Cyr, said he expected the sale to fetch between $270,000 and $540,000, though he added there “could be surprises.”

Star lots, which could end up fetching several times their estimates, included a 1935 haute couture sheath gown in fine black lace, its neckline embellished with a black silk bow—and a 1929 afternoon dress in verdant leaf print, with a swingy jacket in emerald green.

While the vintage pieces—displayed on mannequins behind velvet ropes—were off limits to the public, most of the lots could be handled, inspected and even tried on. A hoard of women of all ages—some of them dressed in head-to-toe Chanel in a mark of brand loyalty—swarmed the racks, shimmying into slightly too-small jackets, swimming in oversized trenches, and sometimes, just sometimes, finding that perfect fit.

“This is my first time at an auction,” said Francoise Brunet, a 65-year-old Parisian who said her “life’s dream” was to own a quilted Chanel handbag. “My kids gave me some money for Christmas, so here I am, to make that dream come true.”

It took assessor Francoise Sternbach a year and a half to assemble the 820 lots, which she acquired from more than 120 private sellers. Some of the vintage items were dug out of trunks or rescued from attics where they had languished for decades, she said, adding she hoped those lots would end up going to museums.

With bidders expected from across Europe and telephone bidders calling in from as far afield as Asia and the Americas, the rest of the garments will likely get a chance to come back into fashion in the wardrobes of women from around the world.

“These are dresses which have lived during Mademoiselle Chanel’s time, which went to the most famous parties, which were admired and worn by gorgeous women,” said auctioneer Cornette de Saint Cyr. “And they will be worn again by gorgeous women. That’s what I want – for (the garments) to live again.”

The two-day-long sale, held at Paris’ Drouot Richelieu auction house, wraps up Friday.

Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE

A Chanel Couture gold brocade dress and jackets, circa 1970s, was auctioned on Sept. 2, 2009 by Leslie Hindman Auctioneers. The Chicago auction house is renowned for its Vintage Couture & Accessories sales. Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and Leslie Hindman Auctioneers.
A Chanel Couture gold brocade dress and jackets, circa 1970s, was auctioned on Sept. 2, 2009 by Leslie Hindman Auctioneers. The Chicago auction house is renowned for its Vintage Couture & Accessories sales. Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and Leslie Hindman Auctioneers.

Record likely for Swisegood cupboard at Brunk Auctions

The original blue paint on this Swisegood corner cupboard can be seen under its orange and red painted surface. With rope-carved quarter columns, original brasses and original bracket feet, the cupboard sold for $120,750, a probable new record for a Southern corner cupboard. Image courtesy Brunk Auctions.

The original blue paint on this Swisegood corner cupboard can be seen under its orange and red painted surface. With rope-carved quarter columns, original brasses and original bracket feet, the cupboard sold for $120,750, a probable new record for a Southern corner cupboard. Image courtesy Brunk Auctions.
The original blue paint on this Swisegood corner cupboard can be seen under its orange and red painted surface. With rope-carved quarter columns, original brasses and original bracket feet, the cupboard sold for $120,750, a probable new record for a Southern corner cupboard. Image courtesy Brunk Auctions.
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – It appears that a circa 1820 walnut Swisegood corner cupboard set a record for the regional form at Brunk Auctions on Feb. 20. Auctioneer Andrew Brunk announced the record from the podium after the towering one-piece cupboard sold for $120,750, more than double the high estimate.

All selling prices include a 15 percent buyer’s premium.

“We may have missed one, but at this point it seems to be a record,” said Bob Brunk, company president, after the sale. The cupboard by one of the South’s premier furniture makers descended in a Forsyth County, N.C., family, not far from where it was originally crafted in the early 19th century.

The cupboard’s success may be a sign that spring is in the air. “The market seemed energetic and vibrant again,” said Bob Brunk. “We saw people at this sale we haven’t seen for years.”

There were other hopeful signs: Sales of Chinese porcelain, Russian paintings and Oriental rugs were strong.

In the large Chinese porcelain category, 10 of the 25 lots from the Thomas English Cody collection exceeded estimates. Three were bowls in colors other than celadon, red or blue. It was an auspicious sign that a pair of yellow-green Imperial bowls with a Qianlong mark appeared on the cover of the sale catalog. The pair opened at $40,000 and sold to a phone bidder for $97,750. That winning bid was slightly above the high estimate. A pair of pale yellow glazed bowls with marks for the Zhengde period started at $2,000 and escalated to a startling $86,250 (est. $2,000-$4,000), the second highest Cody lot. Another bowl, this one in stunning pink with a Yongzheng mark, sold for $41,400, far above its $4,000 high estimate. A yellow lidded jar with an impressed Daognang seal, also from the Cody collection, turned a $6,000 opening bid into a $36,800 close.

Among the Chinese porcelain lots from other private collections none did better than the meiping vase that descended in the Ferdinand Howard family of Ohio. The 18th-century blue and white vase, possibly Yongzheng, opened at $10,000 and sold for $43,700 (est. $15,000-$30,000). Blooming trees, rocks, roses, butterflies and bamboo – all in blue underglaze – surrounded the white human-form vase.

Of the 135 paintings in the sale, 96 percent sold. The stars of this long category were two paintings by Serge Poliakoff (Russia, 1900-1969). The abstract expressionist was a major influence in post-World War II School of Paris and in Tachisme, an art movement devoted to the absence of form itself. Both paintings were oil on wood panel, signed lower right and reflected Poliakoff’s mature style. The brightly painted Composition (1955-1956) sold for $368,000 making it the top lot of the entire sale. The other Poliakoff, a more sober, darker and later (1960) composition, brought $264,500. It was the sale’s second highest lot.

Another 20th-century painting, Andrew Wyeth’s watercolor, The Road to Holiday’s Barn, completed when he was only 18 and given to a family nurse, sold within estimate for $36,800. Wyeth added an inscription, signature and date (1935) to the front of the watercolor. Also selling within estimate was the sale’s earliest painting, a portrait of Thomas Broughton (1668-1737), a wealthy Indian trader and South Carolina land owner, by Henrietta Johnston (1670-1728). Her pastel portrait of Broughton on blue laid paper with signature label verso sold for $25,300.

Soon after the February catalog was published and mailed, Brunk began receiving calls and visits from potential bidders from overseas. The object of their interest was a 15th- century Florentine triangular wood panel of a kneeling angel holding an olive branch. Each side of the panel was 12 5/8 inches. The visitors, who later participated in the sale by phone, believed it to be the top of an altar and worth far more than its $1,500-$3,000 estimate. The carved gilt and tooled panel was the sleeper of the sale. It rose from an opening bid of $1,000 to $52,900. The winning bidder was from outside the United States.

The total with buyer’s premium for the two-day sale was $2.67 million.

For more details visit www.brunkauctions.com or call 828-254-6846.

Click here to view Heritage Auction Galleries’ complete catalog.

ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE

This Andrew Wyeth painting was given as a gift in 1935 to a nurse who worked for the Wyeth family. She then gave it to a friend in the 1950s. It sold for $36,800. Image courtesy Brunk Auctions.
This Andrew Wyeth painting was given as a gift in 1935 to a nurse who worked for the Wyeth family. She then gave it to a friend in the 1950s. It sold for $36,800. Image courtesy Brunk Auctions.

A handwritten letter from artist Serge Poliakoff (1900-1969) dated June 23, 1969, attesting to the authenticity of 'Composition,' accompanied the 1955-1956 signed painting. At $368,000, Composition,45 3/4 inches by 35 inches, was the top lot of the sale. Image courtesy Brunk Auctions.
A handwritten letter from artist Serge Poliakoff (1900-1969) dated June 23, 1969, attesting to the authenticity of ‘Composition,’ accompanied the 1955-1956 signed painting. At $368,000, Composition,45 3/4 inches by 35 inches, was the top lot of the sale. Image courtesy Brunk Auctions.

At least three books have been written about Serge Poliakoff (Russian, 1900-1969). They accompanied his dark abstract composition dated 1960. The 45 3/4- by 35-inch painting sold $264,500, making it the sale’s second highest lot. Image courtesy Brunk Auctions.
At least three books have been written about Serge Poliakoff (Russian, 1900-1969). They accompanied his dark abstract composition dated 1960. The 45 3/4- by 35-inch painting sold $264,500, making it the sale’s second highest lot. Image courtesy Brunk Auctions.

These Imperial bowls are slightly different. One is 2 inches by 10 5/8 inches, the other 2 1/8 inches by 10 1/2 inches. They are decorated front and back and have underglaze blue seal marks for Qianlong (1736-1795). The bowls sold for $97,750. Image courtesy Brunk Auctions.
These Imperial bowls are slightly different. One is 2 inches by 10 5/8 inches, the other 2 1/8 inches by 10 1/2 inches. They are decorated front and back and have underglaze blue seal marks for Qianlong (1736-1795). The bowls sold for $97,750. Image courtesy Brunk Auctions.

Van Gogh experts authenticate unusual painting

Vincent van Gogh, 'De molen Le blute-fin,' 1886, oil on canvas, 55.2 x 38 cm, Museum de Fundatie, Heino/Wijhe and Zwolle

Vincent van Gogh, 'De molen Le blute-fin,' 1886, oil on canvas, 55.2 x 38 cm, Museum de Fundatie, Heino/Wijhe and Zwolle
Vincent van Gogh, ‘De molen Le blute-fin,’ 1886, oil on canvas, 55.2 x 38 cm, Museum de Fundatie, Heino/Wijhe and Zwolle
AMSTERDAM (AP) – A newly authenticated Van Gogh has gone on display 35 years after a discredited art collector bought it in Paris, convinced it was painted by the famed Dutch master but never able to prove it.

Louis van Tilborgh, curator of research at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, said Le Blute-Fin Mill was painted in 1886. He said its large human figures are unusual for a Van Gogh landscape but it has his typically bright colors.

It was bought in 1974 by Dirk Hannema, who was known as a brilliant museum curator but much less successful when buying for his own collection. When he died in 1984 he claimed to have seven Vermeers, several Van Goghs and a few Rembrandts.

He was right only about this one.

On the basis of his knowledge and intuition, he attributed the painting to Van Gogh and dated it as having been realized in 1886. However, due to Hannema’s dubious reputation in the field of attribution, this work did not receive much attention. “This discovery is not an attribution but an absolute certainty,” Hannema assured everyone. Exactly 35 years after his purchase, he has finally been proven right.

The painting went on show Wednesday in the Museum de Fundatie in the town of Zwolle.

Comprehensive study by the Van Gogh Museum established that the painting is genuinely a work by Van Gogh. Dr. Louis van Tilborgh, curator of the Van Gogh research, and Ella Hendriks, head of the restoration department, who are both affiliated with the Van Gogh Museum, explain the attribution in De ontdekking – Vincent van Goghs De Molen ‘Le blute-fin’ in de collectie van Museum de Fundatie (Waanders Publishers), of which The Burlington Magazine will publish an English language version in June.

The exhibition arranged around this newly discovered work by Vincent van Gogh will be on display in Museum de Fundatie – Paleis aan de Blijmarkt, Zwolle, until July 4. Besides Le Blute-Fin Mill, two paintings by Van Gogh that are similar in style (on loan from the Van Gogh Museum and the Noro Foundation), and one by Arnold Hendrik Koning (from the collection of the Van Gogh Museum) will also be presented. In addition, the exhibition will also show other works that Hannema acquired from Hein Art Dealers, including paintings by Huet and Troyon, drawings by Redon and Millet, late medieval sculpture, and a figure by Degas.

Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP-ES-02-24-10 0815EST

Utah man accuses feds of misconduct in artifact case

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – The brother of a Utah sheriff accused federal agents Tuesday of misconduct when they arrested him last June for allegedly trafficking in ancient American Indian artifacts.

David Lacy testified in federal court in Salt Lake City that heavily armed agents stormed his house and held him for hours while grilling him about his collection of artifacts – all without reading him his Miranda rights against self-incrimination.

Two agents earlier testified on Tuesday that they did everything properly.

Lacy is a brother of the sheriff in San Juan County in southeast Utah and one of 26 collectors and dealers in Utah, Colorado and New Mexico who were arrested after a two-year sting operation.

The Blanding, Utah, high school teacher maintained that his collection of Native American artifacts was legally obtained. His testimony Tuesday was the first time one of the defendants testified about the case.

“They were legal,” said Lacy, who was eager to show agents his artifacts and explain how he obtained them. “I had done nothing wrong.”

Removing artifacts from federal or tribal lands is a felony violation, although for more than a century it has been a pastime in the Four Corners region of Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado. A common defense is that artifacts came from private lands. Lacy wasn’t asked in court Tuesday to explain where his artifacts came from.

In 2007, federal authorities decided to crack down when a Utah antiquities dealer offered to work undercover for the government buying intricately painted bowls that can sell for thousands of dollars apiece, as well as and other artifacts.

Lacy, 55, was accused of selling a woman’s prehistoric loin cloth, a turkey feather blanket, a decorated digging stick, an Atlatl weight, a set of knife points and other artifacts for more than $11,000. He faces nine counts of trafficking or theft in violation of the Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act. He has pleaded not guilty.

Lacy testified that he planned a day of golfing on June 10 when nearly a dozen agents showed up at his house outside Blanding, Utah, just after sunrise.

“They said, ‘Open up, police!’ Lacy recounted. “I thought it was my son, who is a deputy sheriff. I told him to knock it off.”

Lacy said he met several armed agents at the door, some carrying shotguns or rifles. He threw on a pair of shorts, T-shirt and flip-flop sandals as agents searched and occupied his house for more than four hours.

A son and a daughter testified Tuesday that agents kept them from visiting to check on their father’s welfare.

It wasn’t until the very end that two federal Bureau of Land Management agents testified that they informed Lacy he was under felony arrest. The agents insisted they advised Lacy of his Miranda rights at the outset, but Lacy disputes that. Lacy did sign a Miranda waiver at the end of his interview.

Under the circumstances, “We think there’s no question he was in custody,” said one of Lacy’s lawyers, Matthew Lewis. That means agents have a special duty to inform a defendant of his rights.

Lewis is asking U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart to suppress information Lacy supplied during his interview. Stewart isn’t expected to rule until May.

Lacy said his interview started out casually, then “they became more adversarial” with agents raising their voices and expressing frustration. He said he had agreed to sit for an interview and consented to the search of his house, an outbuilding, his vehicle and a leased storage shed in town.

Prosecutor Rich MeKelvie said Lacy acknowledged selling some artifacts, but after the hearing his lawyer insisted those artifacts had been legally obtained.

Two of the 26 defendants – one a Santa Fe, N.M., salesman, the other a prominent Blanding, Utah, physician, James Redd – committed suicide after their arrests.

Separately, Redd’s wife and daughter surrendered their own vast collections, pleaded guilty and were sentenced last summer to terms of probation. The rest of the defendants have pleaded not guilty.

Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP-WS-02-23-10 1702EST