“They are advertising something that does not exist any more – they are not meant for our eyes to see.”
Silvia Scopa will next week launch a project to document historic signs uncovered during building work in Scotland’s largest city – only to soon disappear again.
The Ghost Signs of Glasgow initiative aims to delve into the city’s past by researching the stories behind long-hidden shop fronts and advertising slogans. It follows a Facebook group being launched in Edinburgh four years ago that has recorded hundreds of such signs across the capital. Scopa, who will co-ordinate the project for the Glasgow City Heritage Trust, said: “I think they are a window to the past. Glasgow was the second city of the Empire, so there is quite a lot to reveal.” Recently unearthed examples include a sign for the North British Hotel – now the Millennium Hotel – in George Square, which appeared during work to extend the adjacent Queen Street Station.
There is also a sign for a former tailor’s shop on Bath Street. A “Jacobean Corsetry” sign in Virginia Street is all that remains of a shop that traded between 1946 and 2000. Scopa said: “It is possibly the most loved ghost sign in our city. It ended up giving the name to the 1817 building it is mounted on, which is now known as the Jacobean building.”