Sunday, November 18, 2012

Coca Cola Ghost Sign Reveals Andersonville's Past

Sold Everywhere
Nikon D7000 w/ 16-85mm lens, 1/500sec at f8, ISO400. © Andy Marfia 2012 All Rights Reserved.

A recent building demolition on Clark Street in Chicago's Andersonville neighborhood has revealed this long hidden ghost sign advertising Coca Cola for 5 Cents.  If you're wondering when Coke last cost 5 cents, NPR stepped in (entirely coincidentally) last week with a story explaining this exact question.  That was really nice of them!  It turns out it was about 70 years, from 1886 to 1959.

Refreshing
Nikon D7000 w/ 16-85mm lens, 1/800sec at f8, ISO400. © Andy Marfia 2012 All Rights Reserved.

Relieves Fatigue
Nikon D7000 w/ 16-85mm lens, 1/1250sec at f8, ISO400. © Andy Marfia 2012 All Rights Reserved.

Since taking these photos, this sign was featured on the Edgeville Buzz web site, and the Andersonville Chamber of Commerce posted a photo on their facebook page from the early 1900s.  They claim this sign was "painted and visible for some period between 1913-1919".  I love that it's been hidden all these years and likely no one even knew it was there, a piece of Andersonville history hiding behind a brick wall.  The developer who owns this land intends to build a four story building here-- hopefully they leave this sign intact so it can be revealed again in another hundred years.

Alley View
Nikon D7000 w/ 16-85mm lens, 1/800sec at f8, ISO400. © Andy Marfia 2012 All Rights Reserved.

UPDATE AUGUST 2013: This ghost sign is now being bricked over.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

So this demolished building was the laundromat/pet store?

Andy Marfia said...

No, the laundromat (which is now the Thybony paint store) and pet store are still there. The building that was torn down was an unoccupied auto repair shop. You can still see it on Google Street View: http://goo.gl/maps/wyrMp