Ghost Signs – A Brief History

A short history of ghost signs produced for the Neon Museum of Philadelphia’s Summer 2021 exhibition, “Seeing Ghosts: 7 Photographers Capture Faded Wall Ads.”

Ronald Ladouceur’s interest in ghost signs dates back 5 years to the day when the demolition of a city building a few blocks from his office revealed an almost pristine fragment of a 115-year-old Uneeda Biscuit promotion. From that moment, according to Ron, ghosts began popping into view “with alarming frequency.” In ever-widening circles, Ron started traveling, compulsively, to cities and towns throughout New England, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and a few random fly-to points across the country to discover and document examples.