Chesterfield sign, J's Prairie Rose Cafe, Laramie Wyoming

This is a Chesterfield cigarettes sign on what is now J's Prairie Rose Cafe in Laramie Wyoming.  This sign is only visible as the building that was next to this one has been taken down.  I have no idea how old the sign is, but up until last year it would have have been visible for decades.

Lipton Tea Sign, Apartment Building, Denver Colorado.

A classic Lipton Tea advertisement on the side of a building that was an apartment building in Denver, at the time the sign was painted.  I don't know what the building is now.  "Demand Lipton's popular tea."

Coopersmiths, Ft. Collins Colorado.

A variety of ghost signs are seen here, on the side of what is now Coopersmith's, the popular brew pub in Ft. Collins, Colorado.  The Colorado Bakery & Grocery sign is prominent, but also included are a Denver Post sign and an Owl Cigar sign.

Sidewalk Clock, Casper Wyoming

The March 10 entry on Today In Wyoming's History, which featured a sidewalk clock from outside of Wyoming, reminded me of this one, in Casper.

This is something that isn't as common as it once was, a sidewalk clock.  Once a fairly common, and pretty neat, feature of the downtown landscape, I don't know that anyone puts them up any more.  If they do, it's not frequently.

This particular one has been in place for decades.  So much so, in fact, that I hardly take notice of it, even though its a prominent feature on the sidewalk. This is the Ayres Jewelry Store sidewalk clock which, as can be seen, is in the shape of a large diamond ring.

Black Cat Books, Greybull Wyoming

This doesnt' really fit our normal topic category here, but interesting advertisement theme nonetheless.

Gamble Store, Casper Wyoming

This is the painted sign for the Gamble Store, in downtown Casper Wyoming.  This building is now occupied by other establishments.

Gambles was a department store. As the sign indicates, the stores offered a wide range of products, although as I don't ever recall this business operating here, and therefore don't know, I have to wonder how this range of products was offered in a relatively small retail space.  Anyhow, the Minnesota based company expanded from an initial store in that state in the late 1920s to being the 15th largest retailer in the United States by the end of the 1970s.  In the 1980s, it was so large that it attempted to take over Brooks Brothers.

Since that time, the company's fortunes declined.  A descendant company still exists, but it does not operate under the Gambles name as a storefront name.

Furniture Store, Casper Wyoming

Remnants of a furniture store sign, now on the side of the Kirkwood Oil and Gas building, in downtown Casper.

Opal, Wyoming

Old painted store side in Opal, Wyoming. This was a fairly substantial structure, in what was an isolated small town, and as the sign indicates, the store included groceries amongst its offerings. Gasoline and Oil were also advertised, as can be seen. A tiny super store, in its day, or a substantial general store, if more properly considered.

Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, Denver Colorado

This is an usual modern example of a painted building logo, this one located on the roof of the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company restaurant in Denver, Colorado. Bubba Gump's is a chain, but I doubt all have this feature. This painted logo, viewed here upside down as viewed from the Embassy Suites, is painted so that the logo is visible from the hotel across the street.

This was photographed on a snowy day, so the logo is not entirely clear.

Dupler Brothers Fur Building, Denver Colorado

Downtown Denver used to have several furriers and fur warehouses. This was one of them.

Noland Feed Store

This is example of a long time business, still in business with a painted brick building. The Noland Feed store, in downtown Casper, Wyoming features a painted logo, and painted representations of some of what it offers.

Evanston Wyoming

Downtown Evanston, Wyoming, with many old painted signs in evidence.

Prairie Publishing Company Window

Bowen's Sporting Goods

For many years, this was Bowens Sporting Goods. The building now houses an Orvis store. When it was Bowens, however, it was one of two major, all sports, sporting goods stores in downtown Casper. When it went out of business in the late 80s, the final sale featured everything from tennis supplies to rifle stocks. Bush Wells, the other major downtown sporting goods store, is depicted and mentioned in the entry below.

The Wonder Bar, which is featured in an entry immediately above, is also visible in this photograph.

Bush Wells

This photograph depicts the sign for Bush Wells Sporting goods. Bush Wells is a longstanding Casper sporting goods store which is still located in downtown Casper, but not at this location. It is now several blocks to the south.

This building, as our flagship photo shows, has had other businesses in it at various times. The painted sign for one of these buildings is barely visible below the Bush Wells sign. Today, a lighting supply house occupies this building.

The Townsend Building (A. J. Woods)

This is a sign advertising the Woods For Men clothing store, on the side of the Townsend Building (not to be confused with the Townsend Hotel). I don't know the vintage of this sign, located on what is now a bookstore on the 100 block of South Center Street. I don't recall Woods ever being in this location, although it was once located nearly directly across the street. Apparently when it was in this location, the business was called "A. J. Woods". The Townsend Building itself was built in 1905, bricked over some time after that, and then later concreted over, as we now see it.

This sign was painted on the brick in a stylish manner, prior to the building being concreted over. The concrete has chipped off within the past few years, exposing the old painting.

Kistler Tent & Awning.

This is a sign painted on the former location of Kistler Tent & Awning Company. Kistler Tent & Awning still exits, but in a different location.

This photo provides a good example of why we have started this website. The sign, located on a building which is still in central downtown, advertises services that were important in the area at the time the sign was painted. Sheepwagon covers, Herders "Tepees" and Lambing tents were all significant items for Sheep ranching, which was a major industry in the region well in to the 1970s. Ranching is still a significant industry, but the sheep industry has greatly declined.

As an addition to this, I recently noticed that this building, which I'd consider the old Western Book Store building, has this Kistler logo in the cement.  Obviously this was the storefront for Kistler Tent and Awning. An interesting thing is that the photos on the bricks depicted above are not on the same building, but an adjoining one.  Either Kistler leased the sign space or, probably more likely, it occupied several adjoining buildings at this time.

It's interesting to note that at one time, this business was right on center street, not in a semi industrial part of town, as we'd expect today.  That probably says something about how important the sheep cover industry was at the time.  The building we are referencing is the one that has the sign noting that it sold gifts and cards, which as a book store it did.  In my memory, this building was always a book store, although it no longer is.