Friday, May 3, 2013

My Anzac Day sign hunt

Finally, here is my haul of ghost sign finds from last Thursday. I originally planned to use the public holiday for a gym session, but a Twitter friend had told me about a sign she passes on her way to work, so I decided to go and have a look at that instead. I travelled on foot to capture other signs on the way. I ended up walking for about 5 hours almost non-stop. It was an expedition

Unfortunately, my supposedly fully charged camera battery expired very early on in the piece and I'd left my spare at home on the charger, so I had to rely on my phone camera. Better than nothing, I suppose. Anyway, here they are:


Bridge Road, Richmond, near Hoddle Street intersection


Stark's Manufacturers. Spotted from Hoddle Street, 
Richmond, behind Hungry Jack's carpark


Islington Street, Collingwood. Not a painted sign, but it's old


At first glance I thought James was a Malteser
Maltster is still amusing. You don't meet maltsters
 at parties these days


Further along Islington Street


A closer look at the right end of the above sign reveals 
another old sign* - SHOE


And again...'manufacturer' or an abbreviation thereof


Islington again, but only a fraction


This is the Robur Tea sign that started it all, on the corner
 of Michael Street and Park Parade, North Fitzroy


Close up. Dairy Produce on the top left




The Robur Tea sign was a great find (not that I actually found it), and a little further along I came upon this gem on the corner of Albert Crescent and Grant Street. How easily I could have gone down a different street!


TOE & BALLET SHOE MANUFACTURERS!  J. Imbesi & Sons  


Also a two-in-one - T Peters made some other kind of shoes. 
Were basket shoes a thing? 



This one is the side of a building on Queens Parade, which I saw from (I think) Grant Street. There was a high degree of difficult in spotting it - it was a 'blink and you'll miss it' thing. It looks like it says BLAND. 


Brunswick Street, Fitzroy North (the bit north of Alexandra
 Parade). Not sure what it says


A closer view...Looks like 'Chek....y'  and second word
 ends in S. Any ideas? 


This is in Fitzroy...I forget which street


Collingwood (forget where...I did take note of street names, 
but not which sign was where. Der) 


Collingwood


Collingwood again


Also Collingwood (Vere Street, maybe?)


Collingwood yet again


Wattle Poultry, I reckon.  Alexandra Parade,
 I think near the corner of Wellington Street


This was Brunswick Street, Fitzroy North again
 (Yes, my photos are out of order and I'm too lazy to re-order them)


Corner of York Street (obviously) and Brunswick Street -
the same building as the one above 


W Parkin & Co Engineers, Fitzroy Street, Fitzroy 


Independent Hall, also Fitzroy Street


Strath Knits, Manufacturers of Fashion Knitwear. 
I think this was Collingwood too

* What I've been calling a two-in-one sign, other ghost sign hunters call a 'palimpsest', but I'm not sure I want to go there...  


4 comments:

Lindy said...

Looks like a good haul of signs for one day. I keep laughing about the mix up between the 'Malteser' and the 'Maltster'. Love reading your blog. Lindy

Peter Mooney said...

Great collection

Stef said...

Some brilliant ones there - good hunting! Love the dance studio one. The big one on Brunswick Street is for Uncle Toby's (oats I presume). Also, the Independent Hall on Fitzroy Street featured in a murder mystery on the ABC recently...forget which one. Also, that colourful sign on Alexandra Parade has some really wonderful painting on it...a country church, fields etc (I posted this one recently myself and loved it)

Stef said...

Sorry, not dance but haute couture. I reckon the colourful one says 'Cattle Poultry"...might have been a stockfeed place?