Sunday ghost signs and other stuff

This little car - a Messerschmidt KR200 - was quite

 an attention grabber on Brunswick Street on Sunday

Catching some late afternoon sun 
(Collingwood)

Jointy yellow door 
(Abbotsford)

Off Smith Street, Collingwood
(think I've blogged this before...)

Tre-sur Knitting Mills, across the road from the sign above
  

Manufacturers of LADIES...

...teenage and CHILDRENS

 KNITWEAR

And a bonus old OFFICE sign, with just-visible
  old phone number

Not a painted sign and I have definitely blogged this before

It's the sign of the former MacRobertson's confectionery company in Fitzroy - officially MacRobertson's Steam Confectionery Works.  I've written about its founder, Macpherson Robertson before too.  His factory - which expanded to fill a whole block in Fitzroy - was painted all white inside and his employees wore white uniforms. It was nicknamed the Great White City. Mac himself was known to sport a white suit and hat, often a Stetson. 

He was a remarkable Melburnian - a self-made man, eccentric and philanthropist. He died in 1945, but he left his mark on Melbourne with a bridge and a girl's school named after him (which he funded).  There's also part of Antarctica  - Mac.Robertson Land - named in his honour after he funded a joint British, Australian and New Zealand expedition there in 1928. 

He introduced chewing gum and fairy floss to Australia and created the Freddo frog and Cherry Ripe chocolate treats. Less happily, he was also the driver of the car which caused Melbourne's first road death in 1905, although he was cleared of culpability. 

Anyway, onto more signs: 

Also Smith Street

Not sure what sort of shop it was, but it seems they

 didn't want riff-raff streaming through the doors...

   

 Just off Victoria Street, Abbotsford

 Ideal Box factory, Rokeby Street, Abbotsford

Truck body builders, and very old phone number. 

Also Rokeby Street  

Just off Hoddle Street, Abbotsford

More Mali, more old signs

I saw more Mali sculptures in my travels this weekend. I'm not sure how many I've seen now, but still I'm well off 50. 

 Gordon Reserve, corner Spring and Macarthur Streets in the city

All that glitters is Mali, near the Old Treasury Building, Spring Street

 In front of the Melbourne Town Hall, Swanston Street

Also in front of the Town Hall

The glass mosaic Mali directly above is my favourite so far. It must be the work of Deborah Halpern - it doesn't look the same as the illustration in the list but as soon as I saw it, I thought, "I know that face from somewhere...."

This is Angel, Halpern's best known work, which

 stands in Birrarung Marr, beside the river

I saw some old signs in Fitzroy and Abbotsford. I'm particularly pleased with the Commit No Nuisance sign because it was literally a case of 'blink and you'll miss it' as I walked past.

Off Rose Street in Fitzroy

Another Commit No Nuisance sign, well hidden in 

a narrow alley just off Brunswick Street

 Bates' Cocoa Mills, Bond Street in Abbotsford 

This sign is on the side of an old building. The sign on the front is shown in the photo below.    Thanks to Google, I can tell you the building started off as a school, and when the Bates cocoa company took over the building, they kept the sign on the front. Nice. 
     

  

Click here and scroll down to see an old picture of the building. (Brace yourself if you dislike the Collingwood Football Club).

Foster's Lager, on the side of the Terminus Hotel on

 Victoria Street, Abbotsford

The Terminus is on the edge of what is now a construction site. I think the demolition of existing buildings revealed this sign and I expect the new development will hide it again.

The sun shining through a gap in the clouds as I crossed the river