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Ghost signs, ghost ads & other phantoms

NOMA Electric Corp. – Greenwich Village – Vincenzo Aiosa

Nov 25th, 2011
by fadingad.
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55 West 13th Street - © Vincenzo Aiosa

In 1925, many of the smaller decorative lighting companies formed a trade association they called the N.O.M.A. (See The NOMA Story for more information). The name stood for the National Outfit Manufacturer’s Association, and the association members were hopeful that in joining together, they could pool advertising resources and purchasing power, thereby proving to be an effective competitor to Morris and his company, as well as other Christmas lighting manufacturers.

The years 1925 and 1926 were quite  successful ones for the NOMA consortium. In 1926, the members voted to form a single operating concern: The NOMA Electric Corporation. In 1927, the corporation sold stock on the open market for the first time. Although NOMA Electric was now technically a bigger operation than was the M. Propp Company, the Propp name was still forefront in the public’s mind when it came to quality electric Christmas lighting outfits. The NOMA brand was only a year old, and during their first years of operation the company was selling out of the stock of the smaller businesses that were involved in its formation….

A war-weary public, tired of having to make-do with their old Christmas lights, eagerly snapped up almost every lighting set NOMA could make in 1946 and 1947, and the company enjoyed two sellout years before they could finally begin to catch up with demand in 1948. NOMA was now ordering more than 85 million  lamps a year from General Electric alone. Although NOMA had 41 competitors by 1950, they were still able to hold on to more than 35% of the electric Christmas lighting market, an astounding market share that any company in business today would be thrilled to be able to accomplish.

In 1953, Business Week magazine interviewed Henri Sadacca, Chairman of the Board of NOMA Electric Corporation, and Joseph A. Ward, President of NOMA LITES Incorporated. NOMA Electric had created their new Christmas light division, NOMA Lites, in order to keep that business separate from their many other divisions in operation at the time.

During the War years, Sadacca had been buying up different companies, running them all under the NOMA Electric Corporation umbrella. Some of these companies included the Ansonia Electrical Company (electric wire and cable), the previously mentioned Triumph Industries (bombs, munitions and fireworks), the Estate Stove Company (electric and gas ranges), the Refrigeration Corporation of America (home freezers), Effanbee Incorporated (among their products was Noma, the talking doll), and the Ward Heater Company (home heating equipment). NOMA Lites Incorporated carried on NOMA Electric Corporation’s Christmas lighting and decoration business under the direction of Ward, who was personally selected for the task by Sadacca.

Also during this time, Sadacca started an independent plastics molding plant, which supplied the plastic light shades, decorations and novelty item components to NOMA Lites. It was called TICO Plastics, was named after Henri Sadacca’s nephew Tico, and was owned by Leon Sadacca, Henri’s brother. The factory did quite well.  In the mid 50s, Saul Blitz took over the company in a leveraged buy out, and it became financially independent of NOMA  Electric Corporation and NOMA Lites Incorporated. The factory continued in operation at 55 West 13th Street in New York City until 1971. – Old Christmas Lights – NOMA Story

Vintage NOMA Christmas Candolier mini window Candelabra 10 candles - Ebay

Google Books © Life Magazine

Life Magazine - May 2, 1955

Popular Mechanics - September 1945

Popular Mechanics - September 1945 - Google Books

Popular Mechanics - March 1945

Saul Blitz was an American businessman and manufacturer in the plastics industry. In the mid-1950s, Saul Blitz took over TICO Plastics, a division of NOMA (a plastics molding plant that made plastic light shades, decorations and novelty item components to NOMA Lites) in a leveraged buy out. TICO Plastics became financially independent of NOMA Electric Corporation and NOMA Lites Incorporated. The factory continued in operation at 55 West 13th Street in New York City until 1971. – Saul Blitz Collection of Plastic Patents – Syracuse University Library

Best viewed during or just after it rains © Vincenzo Aiosa

Frank Jump with Bobby Rivers on Metro @ Large: with Dave Frieder & Gerard Suarez – Parts One & Two – August 1998

Nov 23rd, 2011
by fadingad.
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Artstep paints three monumental murals for Catch seafood restaurant in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District

Nov 22nd, 2011
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Courtesy of Molly Stevens

Artstep paints three monumental murals for Catch, EMM Group’s three-story seafood restaurant in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District. The artist-run art consultancy worked with ICRAVE designers to develop the murals to resemble vintage advertisement, the kind that can be seen fading on building facades throughout the world. Contact director and internationally exhibited artist Molly Stevens to find out how Artstep can create original décor for your business or home, including mural art, stencil art, wall hangings, and more. – ArtstepNY – On Facebook

ARTSTEP's first commercial job was this mural painted to look like a faded advertisement. The restaurant "Catch" opened in the meatpacking neighborhood in early September 2011. © ArtstepNY

  • Catch – 21 Ninth Avenue NYC


Ancient ad ‘reins’ over Times Square By SUSANNAH CAHALAN – NY POST

Nov 20th, 2011
by fadingad.
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The oldest still-standing advertisement in New York City — there for more than a century — is hidden in, of all places, Times Square.

“J.A. Keal’s Carriage Manufactory Repairing” — at 47th and Broadway — was painted on the side of a brick building in 1874, back when horses galloped through Gotham.

The billboard, now hidden at the southwest corner of Broadway that has Roxy Delicatessen on its ground floor, is featured in Brooklyn elementary-school teacher Frank Jump’s new book, “Fading Ads of New York City” (The History Press), out this week.

Jump photographed the “ghost sign,” as many of the old ads are called, when it was briefly exposed in 1998.

PHOTOS: FRANK JUMP
WHOA! Survivors of a simpler time, these ads in Times Square (pictured) and 19th-century customers who depended on horses for transportation.

 

An adjacent building at 1567 Broadway was torn down before a new building was erected and connected to the towering W Hotel that currently stands behind it.

The city’s oldest still-visible ad is in Chelsea, the book says. Painted in white on a red-brick building at 109 W. 17th St. around 1900, the ad sells “Carriages, Coupes and Hansoms.”

Jump, who teaches at PS 119 Amersfort School, has documented 5,000 ads since 1997. Only a third are still standing.

These two survivors have been lucky to make it into the 21st century, as neither building is landmarked, city officials said. – scahalan@nypost.com 

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-11-20

Nov 20th, 2011
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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-11-13

Nov 13th, 2011
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Featured Fade – Harlem, Flour, Hay, Grain & Feed Revisited – Carter Harris

Nov 9th, 2011
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West 128th Street, Harlem - © Carter Harris

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-11-06

Nov 6th, 2011
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Conduit – Revs Hope! – Bushwick, Brooklyn – Vincenzo Aiosa

Nov 6th, 2011
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© Vincenzo Aiosa

Book Review of Fading Ads of NYC by Sam Roberts (Ghostsigns UK)

Nov 5th, 2011
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Fading Ads of New York City cover

 

The eagerly awaited release of Frank Jump’s ‘Fading Ads of New York City’ book is almost upon us. I was fortunate enough to be offered a sneak preview by Frank himself so here are some reflections on the book to whet your appetite and hopefully encourage you to get a copy as soon as it’s published in the UK and the USA.

First and foremost is the quality of photography and the specimens that Frank has captured in his daring escapades around New York. 72 examples are beautifully documented which, although representing just a fraction of his collection, offer up some of the best examples to be found in this city of signs. Two of my favourites are his first ever photograph, the four-storey Omega Oil, and the colourfully illustrated sign for M. Rappoport’s Music Store. The selection is diverse, providing excellent examples of many components of the painted form: scale; lettering; illustration; characters; slogans.

Omega Oils Fading Ad in New York

Omega Oil by Frank Jump

Accompanying each sign in the book is a well researched account of the history of the company advertised. This is then set within the context of the wider industry and its connection to New York. In this sense, the book is an historical account of the commercial history of the city and the districts within it. There are parallels to Ben Passikoff’s ‘The Writing on the Wall’, although Frank uses individual signs as his springboard into the wider historical context.Perhaps the most striking difference between Frank’s book and others in the growing catalogue of Ghostsigns titles is the personal dimension that he brings to his work. The connections between his documentation of New York’s Fading Ads and his fight against HIV/AIDS are inescapable. He uses the unintended survival of the signs as a metaphor for his own survival against the odds, and is very candid in his account of his own story. In this respect, the book is part history, part autobiography, and I learned about more than just Ghostsigns from reading it.Adding another layer of depth to the book are a series of written pieces by various figures including historians, academics, and fellow Fading Ad enthusiasts. There are nine in total including an introduction from Ghostsigns pioneer William Stage (author of the original ‘Ghost Signs’ book) and an extended essay considering the meaning of these signs in terms of time and place from Dr Andrew Irving of the University of Manchester. It is clear from these accompanying texts that Frank’s life and work has touched many people in a positive way. In fact, my own account of the encouragement he offered me in the early stages of my interest in hand painted advertising is one such contribution. (To what extent it adds any depth you can judge for yourself by downloading here…)

This book is a fantastic addition to the published material available on the topic and I learned a lot from it. I hope that the publishers will commission a sequel so that even more of Frank’s photography can find its way onto the printed page. In fact, it looks like it might be the first in a series of titles based on this recent announcement from Lawrence O’Toole.
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