posted
Once a month my buddy take off early Sunday morning (he's a photographer. We search the back roads of Pennsylvania for old cars in barns or fields.) He is starting a website (Castawaycars.com). We found a car beside this barn. I looked at the doors from a long distance away and looked strange! I took my camera and was amazed at finish "mother nature" put on these doors. The look like they were sndblasted! My thought was a signman, years ago when paint had "Real LEAD" in it put a heavy coat on these doors. Over the years the wood wore away faster than the heavy paint! The photos do not do justice!
-------------------- Tony Vickio The World Famous Vickio Signs 3364 Rt.329 Watkins Glen, NY 14891 t30v@vickiosigns.com 607-535-6241 http://www.vickiosigns.com Posts: 1063 | From: Watkins Glen, New York | Registered: Sep 2001
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posted
Ive seen the same thing on old wood buildings across the south here,..seems to me the lead white used to letter the walls held up alot better than the linseed oil and lampblack background,..thus after many decades the only protection for the wood was the lead white left on the lettering. Eventualy the wind and weather takes its toil on the wood and the effect you see is the result. The few cases I have seen here were well over a hundred years old.
Edited to ask what does the original sign read?
[ September 25, 2009, 02:36 PM: Message edited by: Tim Barrow ]
-------------------- fly low...timi/NC is, Tim Barrow Barrow Art Signs Winston-Salem,NC Posts: 2224 | From: Winston-Salem,NC,USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
It says, "THE MODEL DRYGOODS AND STAR CLOTHING HOUSE FINKELSTEIN Bros. WELLSBORO. PA"
-------------------- Tony Vickio The World Famous Vickio Signs 3364 Rt.329 Watkins Glen, NY 14891 t30v@vickiosigns.com 607-535-6241 http://www.vickiosigns.com Posts: 1063 | From: Watkins Glen, New York | Registered: Sep 2001
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posted
That's neat. A REAL ghost sign. I'd guess your take on it is bang on.
-------------------- “Did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again?” -Winnie the Pooh & A.A. Milne
Kelly Thorson Kel-T-Grafix 801 Main St. Holdfast, SK S0G 2H0 ktg@sasktel.net Posts: 5496 | From: Penzance, Saskatchewan | Registered: May 2002
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posted
A repaint or two over the years may have helped it keep going.
-------------------- Frank Smith Frank Smith Signs Albany, NY www.franksmithsigns.com Posts: 807 | From: Albany, NY USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
Doug had the same thought as me; put those in the American Sign Museum. That's amazing.
-------------------- Ricky Jackson Signs Now 614 Russell Parkway Warner Robins, GA (478) 923-7722 signpimp50@hotmail.com
"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." Sir Issac Newton Posts: 3528 | From: Warner Robins, GA | Registered: Oct 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Jon Butterworth: But why is the rest of the shed not bleached and eroded like the doors?
Nice photos!
Jon, My guess after looking at them is, there may have been a full background color like white down first to make the two doors a full ad.
Then lettered on that.
-------------------- Sam Staffan Mackinaw Art & Sign 721 S. Nokomis St. Mackinaw City, MI dstaffan@sbcglobal.net Posts: 1694 | From: Mackinaw City, MI | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
It is quite a find. I don't know when I will ever get back down there. I would look good in a museum!
I think this was the truck parked near by. It just started to rain.
-------------------- Tony Vickio The World Famous Vickio Signs 3364 Rt.329 Watkins Glen, NY 14891 t30v@vickiosigns.com 607-535-6241 http://www.vickiosigns.com Posts: 1063 | From: Watkins Glen, New York | Registered: Sep 2001
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posted
I would think it's caused by the same action that creates "shadows"...the sun bleaching the color isn't only action taking place after paint is applied over any surface, car painters have had fits for years trying to get "shadow" of applied graphics to disappear, when repainting... even after grinding entire surface to raw metal, shadow still comes back as metal, in car cases, moves slightly from forces applied by paint drying...
What year is that p/u? '48??? (notice one piece windshield fellow rodders?) Oh yeah.........
-------------------- Frank Magoo, Magoo's-Las Vegas; fmagoo@netzero.com "the only easy day was yesterday" Posts: 2365 | From: Las Vegas, Nv. | Registered: Jun 2003
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posted
Frank, it's a 52. Pretty much the same as a 48 with the exception of the grille, the hoods a little different and the dash is also different. Over the years, I've owned two 48's, two 49's and a 52.
I've also seen this phenomenon on barns and the one Frank mentioned on cars a lot.
-------------------- George Perkins Millington,TN. goatwell@bigriver.net
"I started out with nothing and still have most of it left"
posted
I aquired an old shed last year, it was Cedar and I noticed that the wood did the same thing where the old hardware had been. It seemed as if the doors had worn away by the elements, but where it was once covered by the old hardware the wood was at the original thickness. So it's quite possible the doors are Cedar.
[ September 29, 2009, 09:32 AM: Message edited by: Bob Rochon ]
-------------------- Bob Rochon Creative Signworks Millbury, MA 508-865-7330
"Life is Like an Echo, what you put out, comes back to you." Posts: 5149 | From: Millbury, Mass. U.S. | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
I'm guessing pine, myself. If you look closely you can see how the wood eroded around the nails, leaving the nailheads raised.
My guess about this is the background was lampblack, which faded and eroded, while the white lead in the lettering acted as a preservative. And yes, these really should be preserved somehow. Very, very cool.
-------------------- "A wise man concerns himself with the truth, not with what people believe." - Aristotle
Cam Bortz Finest Kind Signs Pondside Iron works 256 S. Broad St. Pawcatuck, Ct. 06379 "Award winning Signs since 1988" Posts: 3051 | From: Pawcatuck,Connecticut USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
Tony, I have the answer to this one, because I have an old mail box sign that began showing releaf letters after about 14 yrs. I think the wood is cedar, but what your looking art is background paint long weathered away because the superior lettering enamel was on top of the base coat protecting from the elements many years before it finally wore away the lettering color then the background coat. Thanks for the photos, I wonder if vinyl signs will last that long. We forget, oil paint is 500 year old technology. Mark Baty
-------------------- Mark Baty Mark 1 Studio 1980 SE Leeann Drive Waukee, IA 50263 Posts: 45 | From: Waukee, Iowa | Registered: Aug 2008
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