San Francisco Ghost Sign Mapping Project

Novelty architecture -- that deliciously retro fad of creating buildings in the shape of inanimate objects -- is usually associated with Southern California.

I love map making.

Bits and pieces of my Carnation Mush historic research are all over the web, but it’s time to put it all in one place.

'm writing this post because I miss hills.

Why?

I just did a massive update to the San Francisco Bay Area Ghost Sign Map -- including adding 30 odd pins in San Jose!

Owl Cigar signs are everywhere in San Francisco, even if most aren't visible from street level.

This might be a first in the history of this mapping project.

I’ve been doing some research on the OpenSFHistory site, cross referencing their pics with my map to see how many of these signs can be traced through the historic photographic record of the city.

In an earlier post I discussed the secret ghost signs of San Francisco - those quirks of geography or post earthquake development that are best viewed using Google Earth or similar satellite mapping software.

In my last post I discussed the secret ghost signs of San Francisco - those quirks of geography or post earthquake development that are best viewed using Google Earth or similar satellite mapping software.

Where - All Over the East Bay When - Saturday October 17th 2020, 9am-6pm Details - https://www.facebook.com/events/1165559053845066 After nine years of identifying, documenting, and researching San Francisco's ghost signs we are expanding the scope of our…

Image by Chuck Revell When it comes to Bay Area soda ghostsigns we have the big titan brands - Coca Cola, 7-Up, Shasta, and Mug Root Beer - of which there are many, many, many, many examples remaining in the Bay Area.

I miss giving walking tours.

We drew a map to our favorite Oakland and Alameda ghost signs for the Oakland Museum of California.

There are many great old signs in San Francisco, but there is only one Eat Carnation Mush sign.

What a difference a year makes… No, this sign on 1900 Broadway in downtown Oakland isn’t new, you can just finally SEE IT thanks to some recent construction and the (somewhat unfortunate) removal of the adjacent trees.

NEW SIGN ALERT!

RIP the Hunt's Quality Donuts sign on Mission Street.

The Fruitvale neighborhood of Oakland has been going through some changes in recent years.