On the streets of Schenectady, New York, Ron Ladouceur is "ghost hunting" in broad daylight, alongside an old brick wall.
asserted
Ladouceur → hunt → wall
"We've got a couple of letters we can make out here, right?" he said.
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he → get → letters
"There's the word 'service,' that's pretty clear.
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that → be → ?
These faded advertisements, known as ghost signs, are all around us, often hiding in plain sight.
"It's very much a ghost," Ladouceur said.
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Ladouceur → know → sight
"It pops out, and all of the sudden, they start popping out from alleyways and other buildings, and you're like, Ah! You're haunted by them, and you have to go find more.
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you → pop → more
It becomes an obsession."
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It → become → ?
"The golden era of ghost signs is anywhere between about 1895 and the 1930s," he said.
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he → say → signs
"It really coincides with the rise of national advertising."
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It → coincide → advertising
While you can find faded signs for brands like Coca Cola, Ivory Soap, and Wrigley's gum, most ghosts promote companies, products and brands that died long ago.
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that → find → companies
It's as if they have unfinished business.
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they → have → business
Some are barely decipherable – like a puzzle to be solved.
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Some → solve → puzzle
"Absolutely, I mean a lot of them are almost unreadable," Ladouceur said.
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Ladouceur → mean → them
"Many of them have been painted in layers, because they were a good advertising spot, so people would paint over it with a new ad, new ad, new ad.
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people → paint → ad
And now they're fading in sequence.
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they → fade → sequence
Occasionally, a vibrant "new" ghost sign makes the news when one is uncovered after a siding is removed, or a neighboring building is torn down.
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building → make → news
But overall, we're losing them due to demolition.
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we → lose → demolition
Ghost sign aficionados have been cataloging these phantasms before they disappear forever.
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they → catalog → phantasms
But one artist has been bringing them, ever so briefly, back to life.
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artist → bring → life
Craig Winslow's "Light Capsules" project utilizes projection mapping to recreate what a ghost sign might have looked like in its heyday.
uncertain
sign → utilize → heyday
"It's one night we are, like, conjuring up all of this magic energy and opening this time portal and seeing what these old ghosts have to say," said Winslow.
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Winslow → conjure → what
"This art does not exist without the wall itself.
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art → exist → wall
It doesn't exist without the painter that did that back then, and I feel kind of almost like a medium.
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I → exist → medium
Like, I am the vessel that has this right skill set and the right preciseness to let someone else's work shine."
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work → have → set
Before he shines his light on a wall, Winslow first researches the signs and their locations, utilizing everything from archival images to old directories to discern the various layers.
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Winslow → shin → layers
"I think that's part of what keeps this so exciting for me, is every single one of these is like a mystery to solve," he said.
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one → think → mystery
"Oftentimes it took years to totally solve a layer."
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it → take → layer
For this warehouse in Portland, Oregon, Winslow has identified five distinct layers.
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Winslow → identify → layers
Lead paint bonded to the brick, which lets older signs peek through as others have faded.
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others → bond → brick
He carefully positions his projectors, and then, with the press of a button, decades of history are illuminated all at once – signs advertising Carman Manufacturing Co., Montgomery Ward, Oregon Transfer Co., Storage & Transfer Co., and Western Warehouse.
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decades → position → Co.
Locals stopped by to see an old building in a new light.
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building → stop → light
One woman told us, "My dad worked at Montgomery Ward.
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dad → tell → Ward
He worked in the furniture department.
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He → work → department
It's been a century since Montgomery Ward moved out of this building in Portland.
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Ward → move → Portland
Purists like Ron Ladouceur feel like repainting a ghost would destroy its spirit.
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repainting → feel → spirit
Better to just let these signs rest in peace as a fading reminder of the past.
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signs → let → past
"They just form this nice historical layer," he said.
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he → form → layer
"We cannot just visit a city; we can visit that city in time."
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we → visit → time
The Aporia
