© Frank H. Jump
Recently, I stumbled upon the weblog of OJ Gude’s Great Great Grandson Julian Seery Gude, and I wrote him a letter. Here is what Gude commented on the fading ad blog:
Hi Frank,
I love the pictures on your site you have taken that show (among other interesting items) my Great Great Grandfather’s outdoor advertising signs (The O.J. Gude Company). O.J. sold his company to the General Outdoor Advertising company and along with the company went all the employees, signs, and clients. That was in the early 1920’s. I wonder if you have taken any pictures with a General Outdoor Advertising placard on them? I think General Outdoor survived until the 50’s where it was gobbled up by another outdoor advertising company.
Our family has a great old picture of Times Square from the turn of the century with the same O.J. placard shown in your photo here. The photo was found in an old magazine by a friend of my cousins who is a vintage car enthusiast that found the signs when hunting for his favorite old cars! A gent located at 486 Greenwich Street in Manhattan contacted me via my my blog shortly before you did reporting to have found an O.J. Gude placard like the one in your photo in his building. Thanks for contacting me and keep in touch you have a fantastic site!
Thanks Julian!
[…] Back in the heyday of hand-painted outdoor advertising, a tradition we owe to ad pioneers like OJ Gude, much of the public debate was over the unsightliness of these oversized ads. Not much has changed […]