Monday, April 27, 2015

Ghosts Of An Old Business

It's been awhile since I photographed this ghost sign downtown. The last time was on a bleak day too. The building remains in place, as does the faded sign, a century ago after his time. Mr. Snider operated a photography studio in this building in the 1890s.


48 comments:

  1. Well, he made that to last! Photographers want to be immortal, don't we?

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  2. What a great piece of history! Some day it might be gone, so I'm glad you have it's portrait.

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  3. Every city has its old things that have not been cleared thankfully. So give us a better idea of how it was before.

    Tomás.

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  4. I love a good ghost sign. Nice to see this one is sticking around.

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  5. How cool that his sign lives on!

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  6. A century. Wow! I betcha that advertisement was worth whatever he paid for it. :-)

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  7. Would love to see inside a photographer's studio back then William, real talent needed to take a good shot back then oui!

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  8. That is nice those old fading signs on the walls. that's the way they had to make advertisements long ago. How the world has changed!

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  9. Hanging around. Maybe it's trying to tell us something. Never quit?

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  10. I've always liked the signs painted on old buildings. Obviously some of them last a long time. Some of them were very large.

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  11. @Linda: that we do!

    @Betty: the fact that it's endured this long surprises me.

    @Tomas: it does, fortunately.

    @Halcyon: there's another one a few blocks away I should photograph, an old grocer's shop converted back into a house.

    @Tamera: it's certainly outlived him.

    @Revrunner: definitely.

    @Grace: it would have been quite elaborate.

    @Denise: I do think so.

    @Karl: thanks!

    @Marianne: it really has.

    @Birdman: a good message.

    @Luis: I do think so.

    @Tex: thank you!

    @Red: this one's at least six feet tall, and wider.

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  12. I really do enjoy these old building signs, and try to think about how things used to be.

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  13. I Googled him and didn't find much except that he was in business there in the 1890's. That ghost sign has been there a very long time.

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  14. Great shot, William, I like this old sign, I hope it will last for some time to come.

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  15. I really like finds like this. Old history that often gets painted over or torn down.

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  16. I love this image. Good eye, you have.

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  17. That is more than a century old? I hope they will preserve it!

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  18. I love old signs ! Find a photo of him and ghost it in the photo with his sign that would be cool ! Hubs here likes to ghost some of his images looks amazing ! Thanks for sharing , Have a good day !

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  19. I enjoy looking at these old ghost signs. This one is still in pretty good shape.

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  20. I love ghost signs. Great find, William.

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  21. We have a lot of those in St. Louis, too.

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  22. Oh, I do hope it doesn't get painted over.
    Jane x

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  23. oh wow Ghost town sign. I know many business's cannot make it. Sad but true enough.And the signs blow in the wind.

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  24. How neat that his sign is still there! Gone but not forgotten!

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  25. that is neat that the people kept the sign on the building.

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  26. I love a good Ghost Sign! Nice one.

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  27. @Linda: it certainly does feel of that era.

    @Sharon: there's not a lot, but he was there some years. There were quite a number of photographers in this city in that era.

    @Jan: whatever paint was originally used, is long enduring.

    @Pamela: that is often its fate.

    @Whisk: I see that sign often enough, and it appeals to me.

    @VP: if they ever tear down the building, I expect there'll be people wanting the sign preserved in some capacity, but the building seems well in use.

    @Jackie: so do I.

    @Country Gal: that's a good idea!

    @Lowell: it's stood up to a century plus of Ottawa weather, and still looks well.

    @Peter: so do I.

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  28. @Marleen: thanks!

    @Norma: there aren't that many of them here.

    @Jane and Chris: I suspect there would be outrage if it happened.

    @Linda: thanks!

    @Carolann: it's good that the building's still standing after all these decades.

    @Cheryl: it's certainly outlived him. I suppose he still has descendants. I wonder if any of them know about it.

    @Gill: I certainly do think so.

    @RedPat: thank you!

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  29. My guess is that it is regularly "touched up", William.

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  30. i googled the man but found little bio information on him but lots of comments on the sign!

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  31. i love signs like this on the buildings. we always see Coke or even Pepsi ... wish they did them this day and age. i guess it is a time of the past though. ( :

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  32. I love that photo of the old building. I wonder if the ghost of Mr. Snider still wanders there and what he would think of the "selfies" shot today.

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  33. beautiful garden of poppies. For Anzac day, we made the bigget poppy in the world, a football field size.

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  34. That sign has weathered well! Even a little bit of flourish still shows. I'd be curious to see some of the man's work. (In that age I assume it was a man.)

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  35. I like these old painted signs.

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  36. Well you know I appreciate this. These signs are one of my favorite subjects.

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  37. Photographer, a job I feel people often don't understand and has changed and (excuse the pun) developed into something else. Love the sign, a nod to the past.

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  38. @Julie: that might be.

    @Kate: that is the case.

    @Beth: true.

    @Mari: you'd wonder.

    @Anne: thank you.

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  39. @Kay: it was. There's a historical panel now around a nearby utility box with a view of it.

    @Randy: this one is a good one.

    @EG: so do I.

    @Stuart: me too.

    @Peter: it was worth preserving.

    @Jane: I love it too.

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