June 1999 © Frank H. Jump
July 2015 © Frank H. Jump
Likely the largest existing wall sign in St. Louis, this beauty sits on the west side of what was originally the King-Brinsmade Mercantile Company and is now the King Bee Lofts. Several fading ads adorn the vast brick face, some of them partially overlapping others, having been painted at different times. From top to bottom,ad copy reads “King Bee Hats – King-Brinsmade Merc. Co.” “Wrigley’s Spearmint Pepsin Gum – Trade Mark Registered – The Flavor Lasts” and, within the pointing arrow, “Buettner’s – Seventh and Washington – Home Furnishings – Arrow Stamps.” To the right of Buettner’s is a barely legible ad for “Anti-Kamnia Tablets – Ask For A-K Tablets.” – Hats, Shoes and Overalls – Wm. Stage- The Painted Ad
Back in 1999 when I was already an Internet sensation with the Fading Ad Campaign website, I met Wm. Stage on a cross-country tour while driving a misguided friend back to New York from Santa Fe. Stage was very generous with his knowledge of signs and locations in his domain of St. Louis. We slept on his couch the evening we met and he sent me out on a photo expedition the next morning. This was one of the walls he recommended I shoot and one of the few left untouched in the last sixteen years.
