Discover the tales behind the city you thought you knew, one ghost sign at a time.

Melbourne Ghost Signs is a feverish project dedicated to capturing the peeling, faded advertisements of yesteryear—known as ghost signs — found splashed across Melbourne and Victoria, before they disappear.

Lurking behind these ephemeral pieces of history, there’s a story hiding, waiting to be told.

Have you wanted to read about Melbourne’s fading past but don’t like Instagram? Now’s your chance. Order this glorious book from Scribe Publishing.

My phoneline has gone the way of Robur Tea; that is to say, it’s defunct. Contact me here.

The mad mind behind the Melbourne Ghost Signs project, author Sean Reynolds

@melbourne_ghostsigns

Fading on the facade of this former newsagency along Johnston Street in Abbotsford, this vintage “Read the Age” signage is a relic from when print was king, and news was devoured by hungry eyes instead of thumb-scrolling zombies. But jou
Malmsbury: a town where time moves slow, and rust moves fast. I found myself here, wading through waist-high grass, dodging the notorious “Baz”, a local legend, a self-appointed guardian of this graveyard of Victoria’s railway past.
Henry Llewellyn, a boot manufacturer, set up shop here on Hoddle Street in 1911. Back then, Clifton Hill and Abbotsford were crammed with footwear businesses like the now-demolished Taranto building and the sadly painted over Oriental Shoes. But by
At the entrance to 514 City Road, South Melbourne, a name stares up from the footpath—“TAYLORS.” This isn’t just a tiled-sign; it’s a portal into a hair-raising tale of family legacies, drunken brawls, and a machine so t
Along Victoria Street, a ghost sign reading “SURGERY” is embedded into the front window of this charming Victorian. This once belonged to Dr. James Booth and his controversial wife, Angela. Dr. Booth set up shop here in 1921, serving as
It was 1901 when Henry Williamson Gossard, a Chicago salesman with a taste for Parisian theatre, saw actress Sarah Bernhardt transform herself into a young, dying Napoleon II. How did a curvy, middle-aged woman convince a whole audience she was a fra

Acknowledgement of Country
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I acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land where these ghost signs are found, and pay my respects to Elders past and present. While the signs I explore tell stories from the 1840s onwards, I recognise that the stories of the Traditional Custodians stretch back tens of thousands of years.

I honour the stories, cultures, and traditions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and I celebrate the contributions of Elders, past and present, across all communities who live and work on this land.

GHOST SIGN? WHAT’S A GHOST SIGN?

ghost sign noun;

An old, faded advertisement, typically painted onto the facade of a building, remaining visible long after the product, service, or business it advertised has vanished. These signs often date back several decades, however, some of these signs can be slightly less old, as in the case of signs for ‘jurassic technology’ such as VHS tapes and rotary phones. 

Ghost signs provide a window into the commercial and cultural history of a place, showcasing brands, products, and businesses of the past, as well as the stories of the lives surrounding them. They are called "ghost signs" because they remain as echoes or ghosts of a lost era, slowly fading from view but still holding traces of the city's or area's history.

cultural archaeologist noun;

A discipline focused on the study of a society’s history and stories through the discovery of cultural markers—think ghost signs, artefacts, or past architectural styles. 

A cultural archaeologist researches and interprets these findings, balancing detective work and historical storytelling, aiming to uncover and understand an individual, product or service of an era, and its cultural impact on a community’s past.

naarm melbourne noun;

1. The capital city in Victoria, Australia. 

2. Also known as the land of "four seasons in one day," where the weather plays Russian roulette with your wardrobe. 

3. The cultural capital of Australia where every laneway is a canvas for street artists, the locals think wearing black isn't just a fashion statement but a mandatory uniform, coffee is a religion, and choosing a footy team is a rite of passage that can shape the course of your entire social life. 

4. Melbourne isn't just a place; it's a state of mind, a kaleidoscopic dreamscape where ghost signs haunt every corner, mingling with an assortment of oddballs in a city that’s in a perpetual state of reinvention. It’s where every moment is a chance encounter with the absurd, the sublime, and the utterly unpredictable.