Martin Furniture

8th and Stewart, Downtown

I love the juxtaposition of old and new here. These were taken from under the awning at the Greyhound bus station.

Auto Service Repair and Supply

12th and Madison, Capitol Hill


"...C.W JOE... Auto Service Repair and Supplies phone ast 36"

I've done a cursory look for telephone exchanges in Seattle and have found no records so I'm not yet sure if "ast" was in fact the exchange, or if this meant something altogether different. Let me know what you think!


This building is currently home to Stumptown Coffee and Cafe Presse.

Sicks' Brewing- Bay View Brewery

Airport Way


I've driven past this building hundreds of times and just last week spotted for the first time, the Sicks' painted sign. I went back to capture the sign and then since it was such a nice day, I followed Airport Way down to Georgetown. I'd only been to Georgetown a few times and didn't realize that the large brick compound used to be the Rainier brewery. I was simply stunned. Not only by the coincidence of discovering it on the same day I was out taking pictures of the Sicks sign, but that it was still in such great shape with much of the buildings' relief in tact.

The Sicks brewery is now being leased to Tully's and some small businesses. The old Georgetown brewery is currently housing some small artsy businesses and from what I can tell, some beer distributors. I'm absolutely fascinated with it, and will likely spend a lot of time polishing and updating this post to include additional information as I learn more. In the meantime, the Rainier Brewing Company wiki page has a decent history for those of you who are interested in learning more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainier_Brewing_Company

Hartford Glass

Pike and Broadway, Capitol Hill

This specimen is in excellent shape with lots of color remaining.

"Hartford Glass Co.
Automobile Glass and Mirrors"

Standard Warehouse

First St. near Railroad Way, SODO



I can't quite make this out, but looks like it may have once said "Standard Warehouse Co. Inc."? Tell me what you think.

Coca-Cola: Vancouver

This isn't technically a ghost sign of the last outpost, but rather a cool find while on a quick weekender in Vancouver. Vancouver seems to have retained very little in the way of ghostie remnants of the late 19th-early 20th centuries, but it did provide my very first Coca-Cola ghost sign!

Holsum

Broadway and Jefferson, First Hill




This ad is painted on the North side of the Fenimore Hotel building, opposite the Keene Cigar ad. This is a double ad, however, the dominant is for Holsum.

"Ask your grocer for Holsum. The Bread of Quality." then at the bottom: "...clean, sold clean."

Of course, the best part of this ad are the silhoutettes of the children eating the bread.

Tom Keene Cigar

Broadway and Jefferson, First Hill



This ad shares space with the still existing Hotel Fenimore, which offers "Permanent and Transient Rooms"

Hemenway & Moser Co.

4th and Terrace, Downtown

A little digging revealed that this cigar wholesaler "...ay & Moser Co." was Hemenway & Moser Company, based out of Salt Lake City, Utah. I'm surmising the storefront level of the Crouley Building / Reynold's Hotel was their Northwest location. For those of you interested in the building itself, please visit the Crouley Building's Historical Site page, here.

Click on the photo for higher resolution and to see other mysterious ghosties that share this brick wall.

















I do miss the Abercrombie ads. They were much better eye candy than this Obama logo ripoff that Pepsi has adopted.


















For an idea of what the Seattle store may have looked like in it's heyday, you can check out photos the Salt Lake Hemenway & Moser stores here.

Smith Tower Annex

2nd and Yesler, Pioneer Square


















Fun Fact! The stone building in the forefront was once G.O. Guys drugstore, and is where former Seattle Police Chief William Meredith was shot and killed by John Considine while defending himself against Meredith.

Mutual Life Insurance

605 First Avenue South
1st and Yesler (seen from Post Ave.)


















Fun Facts:
-This building is on the original site of Yesler's Cookhouse.
-When built, it was called The Yesler Building.
-Mutual Life bought the building in 1897
-The building was restored in the 1980's
-Prior to it's restoration and current owner Historic Seattle, the building had four owners: Henry Yesler, the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York, Shafer Brothers Land Company, and Dr. S. T. Magnuson.

Click on the bottom photo to enlarge. There are three additional ghost signs visible in this photo: the Black Bear Beans sign, the Lovera Cigars sign and a third "..ale.." which I can't quite figure out.







For more interesting information on this historic Pioneer Square building, please visit Historylink.org.

Gim Ling

Seventh and Lane, Chinatown

Sam Sloan Cigar

Sixth and Weller, Chinatown


















Sam Sloan was a railroad tycoon as well as president of several large corporations including Western Union. For more details, follow this link- http://www.anusha.com/samsloan.htm



















Not sure where the cigars come into his story- I assume this store sold these cigars, but am unclear about whether it had something to do with our railroad or something else entirely. Curious!

Shanghai Hotel

King and Seventh, Chinatown


















I have no idea what this "Queen" sign is, but it appears in two separate locations within just a few blocks in Chinatown... I just can't get what that last word is!

Michigan House... 15c

Seventh and Weller, Chinatown

















Though they share a wall, the lettering below is different than Michigan House lettering above which was likely a hotel. This lettering is advertising *something* for 15 cents... the cheapest rooms seem to have run around 25 cents, though I suppose this ad could be much older. More research required here.

Bush Garden

Maynard and Lane, Chinatown

OK Hotel

Alaskan Way and Main, Pioneer Square


















My photo was taken from the right side of the building. If you look closely, you can see the address:

"212 RR Ave."

Now, that's excitin'!































Railroad Ave became Alaskan Way I believe around 1936 or so. Follow this Wikipedia entry to learn more. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaskan_Way

The Hotel has been an important aspect of the Seattle music scene, and now operates as an art gallery. Follow this link for more history and current information about the O.K.: http://www.galleryok.com/hist.html

Black Bear Brand

1st and Main, Pioneer Square



I originally titled this post as Black Bear Beans, but recently found this photograph in a book about Pioneer Square which nails it down:



Black Bear Manufacturing made overalls and even had a line catering to the ladies!

Frye Hotel Garage

Washington and Occidental, Pioneer Square

















What's somewhat interesting is that the Frye Hotel is 2 blocks east of here, which doesn't seem very convenient unless the hotel had valet service.

Hotel U.S.

Jackson and Maynard, Chinatown

Du Pont

Mercer and Fairview, South Lake Union



















E. I. DU PONT DE NEMOURS & Co. Paints Varnishes- I suspect this was a wholesaler outlet at some point- incidentally, the du Pont history in Washington is fascinating- http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=5633

Roycroft Theater

19th and Aloha, Capitol Hill


















I had just finished the book "The Hill with a Future: Seattle's Capitol Hill" by Jacqueline B. Williams when I just happened to ride down 19th and saw this. In the book, she talks specifically about the Roycroft's history for several dedicated paragraphs. I almost lost my passenger when I stopped to snap this pic, I was so excited.

The building now houses the Russian Community Center. Lucky Russians!

Oldsmobile?

12th and Madison, Capitol Hill


















I believe this advertisement is for Oldsmobile, though the "l" and the "e" of the word don't look right to me. Fascinating that it was painted in reverse, to look correct to drivers in their rear-view mirrors! Great find!

Bell

Third and University, Downtown























I was admiring the awesome Seattle Tower when I noticed this on the building adjacent. This was the local Ma Bell building, natch. I wish we could see the wording.

Motor Co.

Broadway and Union, Capitol Hill


















I'll try not to get too depressed about this and instead focus on the fact that we can actually still see the color and artistry of the sign that once was.

H.W. Baker Linen Co.

10th and Union, Capitol Hill


















I can't get over how perfect this sign still is, it must be fairly new in terms of ghost signs. In fact, google tells me that this company still exists, though certainly not in this building any longer.

Service Station

11th between Pine and Pike, Capitol Hill


















Looks like I captured this on just the right day. Though its hard to tell, the lettering probably says "Overland" which reader MrCachet points out in the comment section here was a popular car in the early 1900's. The only legible wording left is:

"Service Station"

Physican [sic]

10th and Pine, Capitol Hill


















A total guess, but my instinct tells me that this was an advertisement for some kind of physician preparation school. I believe the ad *probably* once said:

"LEP_R'S SCHOOL OF PHYSICAN PREPARATION".,

Yeah. They misspelled "Physician". This sign has since been covered by a modern advertisement.

7/22/09- UPDATE: the modern (vinyl?) sign has been removed and the original ghostie is in tact!

Optimus

419 Occidental Avenue South, Pioneer Square
Seen from 2nd and Jackson
Currently Houses FX McRory's Steak, Chop and Oyster House

"Optimus Soda Fountains and Store Fixtures. 'Purity' Brand Crushed Fruits & Fountain Syrups", Estab. 1882 Stewar[t] .... Drug Co. [Wholes]ale Drugs . Importers & Manufacturers".

This is an amazing sign, and runs a close second to the Chop Suey Chow Mein sign in Chinatown as my favorite in Seattle.

Particularly interesting to me about this sign is the name "Chris" in very small letters between the windows and just under and between the words "Wholesale" and "Drugs". Could be the artist's name, but of course I don't really know.

Washington Shoe

Jackson and Occidental, Pioneer Square
Currently occupied by Washington Shoe Company

"DAGG DERNEDEN CO. MFGRS. GREENHOOD SHIRTS"
"THE WASHINGTON SHOE MFG. CO."

from washingtonshoe.com:

"Originating in 1891,Washington Shoe Company is one of the Seattle area's oldest companies. They began their business by selling rugged work boots to the thousands of men trying to make their fortunes in the harsh conditions of the Alaska Gold Rush.

The Company now designs and manufactures a variety of boots and shoes for adult female and male audiences and also sells a line of children's shoes, boots and accessories."