Gillette and Daily Mail, Westminster

Could this be London's most easily missed ghost sign, or ghost signs to be precise as a closer look reveals two adverts were successively painted on this wall? Every day, thousands of Londoners and tourists look at the buildings of Whitehall from Trafalgar Square. Yet, how many ever noticed them? To be honest, I only spotted them last year. Since then I have been taking several photos but I have had to wait until days were long enough to get a picture of the wall lit by the sun.

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.

Gillette British Made Razor Blades

Daily Mail

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