A ghost sign is an old hand-painted advertising sign that has been preserved on a building for an extended period of time. The sign may be kept for its nostalgic appeal, or simply indifference by the owner. Ghost signs are found across United States, with many surviving examples in Chicago. Ghost signs are also called fading ads and brick-ads. In many cases these are advertisements painted on brick that remained over time. Old painted advertisements are occasionally discovered upon demolition of later-built adjoining structures.Throughout rural areas, old barn advertisements continue to promote defunct brands and quaint roadside South Shore Food Market Ghost signattractions. Many ghost signs from the 1890s to 1960s are still visible. Such signs were most commonly used in the decades before the Great Depression. The painters of the signs were called "wall dogs". As signage advertising formats changed, less durable signs appeared in the later 20th century, and ghost signs from that era are less common.

Ghost signs were originally painted with oil-based house paints. The paint that has survived the test of time most likely contains lead, which keeps it strongly adhered to the masonry surface. Ghost signs were often preserved through repainting the entire sign since the colors often fade over time. When ownership changed, a new sign would be painted over the old one. Conservators today are being asked to preserve the original signs rather than painting over them. New products for consolidation are available that structurally stabilize both the components of the paint and the masonry substrate. The historic Old Town District in Fort Collins, Colorado recently undertook a ghost sign rehabilitation project that was very successful for the community. A Coca-Cola sign from 1958 in Old Town was preserved Ghost signs 1and touched up to make it more legible. The conservation treatment saturated the original colors bringing back the intensity of the design. It also made the underlying signs more visible to the naked eye.

Take a drive down Ogden Avenue from Berwyn to its terminus in Chicago and you may just spot a surviving Edelweiss Beer or Gold Medal Flour ad from the 1940s.

Happy hunting!