Pittsburgh 'Ghost Signs'

Fading signs on sides of buildings are affectionately known as 'Ghost Signs.'  Here is one website talking about their history, how they were painted, and detailing some 'Ghost Signs' in Texas.  According to the site, the people who painted them were sometimes known as 'Wall Dogs'!

Someday they will fade into oblivion, or just be knocked down, so I am glad when photographers capture them.  Wouldn't all of us like a guarantee that we won't fade?

Here are some from our recent journey to Pittsburgh.

Sack Store Fixture Co.  Can't find much about it on the web.

Penn Bowling Lanes.  Also not much on the web, but one guy took a picture of it from the alley, in the snow, and was quite pleased with the result.  He also got some compliments on Flickr.

The Pittsburgh Association for Improvement of the Poor was organized in 1875, according to the web.  One photographer notes that what is written in the "white triangle" are "Family Welfare," "Homeless Men," and "Fresh Air Camp."  

Eiben & Irr was a jewelry store. Last year, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote: "C. Mel Eiben was talking about his life when an employee at his Downtown jewelry store said she should follow her boss around with a tape recorder and write a book.

"It came to me: 'Who better to write it than the person who lived it?' '' Mr. Eiben said.

For the next seven years, Mr. Eiben, 85, of Shadyside, jotted down notes about his life experiences.

They include his military service as captain of an amphibious Landing Craft Tank during World War II; his career as co-founder of the former Downtown institution Eiben and Irr jewelers; and, for a time, his experience as an entrepreneur for a resort at Deep Creek Lake in western Maryland.

Still, he said, his favorite role was that of loving husband for 46 years to his wife, Winnie, who died in 1990."