The position of the text of this ghost sign, in comparison to the white background is slightly odd. Indeed it leaves a large space to the left empty. Was something written there?
Location: Hale Road / Pictures taken in February 2010
I have not found what kind of business Ludstone & Son was involved in. However the street number -96- tells us this ghost sign was painted in the late 1930s or later. Indeed the section of Webber Street between Blackfriars Road and the Southwark Bridge Road and Great Suffolk Street junction used to be called Friar Street and street numbers only went as far as 58 on the south side (where the building is located). Between 1936 and 1939 several streets around London changed names. In the case of Friar Street, it was incorprated into an extended Webber Street and house numbers were changed accordingly. This would have been when this building was allocated the number 96.
Interestingly, while this part of London was already quite built up by the late 19th century, the small triangular plot of land between Rushworth Street and the railway viaduct was still unbuilt by 1915 if the edition of The Post Office London Directory published that year is to be believed.
Location: Webber Street / Picture taken in March 2009
If you missed the signs, you can visit the appropriate posts (links above) or simply look at the pictures below.
Location: Percy Road / Pictures taken in July 2009
The part of this ghost sign with the name of the hairdresser is slightly difficult to read. It looks as if it was painted twice, what could indicate that ownership of the saloon changed at some point. However I managed to decipher only the name of the first hairdresser: C. Wilson. This is confirmed by the 1914 edition of Kelly's Directory of Middlesex, which list a Charles Wilson, hair dresser, at 146 Amyand Park Road.
Location: Amyand Park Road / Pictures taken in February 2010
The easiest ghost sign to read advertised Gillette razor blades. This is one of many found across the capital. The letters were once painted off-white and the background may well have been blue.
The other ghost sign predated the Gillette one. It promoted the Daily Mail, the conservative newspaper first published in May 1896.
| British Made Razor Blades |
The building was designed in 1904 by Treadwell and Martin in a free Jacobethan - late Gothic style typical of the partnership. With its elaborate stone façade, this is not the kind of building where one would expect some adverts to be painted on!
Location: Whitehall / Pictures taken in July 2013
One ghost sign was advertising Max Bridge's jewellery shop. In common with many of his colleagues, Bridge was not only a jeweller but also a clockmaker. Max Bridge opened his shop before the First World War. His name appears in the 1914 edition of the Post Office Directory (and later in the 1919 edition). He certainly took over a jewellery shop previously run by George Law. Law's name and profession are mentioned in the 1911 edition of the Directory indeed. It seems Max Bridge's real name was Morduch Bregman but he adopted an Anglicized version to run his business. In April 1922 he changed officially his name to Max Bridge.
The other ghost sign promoted Jacks's or Jack's clothes shop. Unfortunately I have not found any information about it. I cannot even tell whether this second ghost sign was painted before or after Bridge's sign.
Location: Falcon Road / Picturs taken in July 2012
 | means literally "Sewing shop." |
Location: Schwe Gone Taing Road / Picture taken in January 2013
The name of the bakery may have been written on the first line but, if that was the case, it has disappeared. Trying to match the few traces of letters that remain to the name of bakers listed at this address in different directories did not lead to a satisfying result. According to various editions of Kelly's Directory, a succession of bakers carried out their business from these premises: Edward Wyatt in 1889 and 1893, Halls & Howe in 1907, and Charles Wilkins in 1911. The name of the latter also appears in the London Gazette. In November 1915 it informed its readers that baker and confectioner Charles Wilkins had been declared bankrupt. Unfortunately I have not found who succeeded Wilkins. Whoever it was, he might have been the one behind this ghost sign. Indeed, the slogan "Everybody's Bread" is not one often found on Hovis adverts and the only mention I found of it dates back to 1917.
Location: Ranelagh Road / Pictures taken in July 2010
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