Regal-Andre Company
Birmingham, AL
Photo courtesy Paul Bauke

The faded Regal-Andre Company lettering takes a little reading before its purpose becomes clear. References to beauty and barber supplies identify a business that served the people behind neighborhood salon chairs. Painted across an old Birmingham wall, the advertisement preserves a trade that rarely receives the attention given to department stores or restaurants. 04-09

A 1949 Birmingham directory lists Regal-Andre as a supplier of beauty and barber equipment. Businesses like this furnished the tools and products used by local shops, connecting a wholesale operation with familiar everyday services. The large wall advertisement helped announce that specialized business beyond its own front door.

UPDATE: Regal-Andre no longer operates under this name. The exact photographed location and its present condition remain unconfirmed, so the surviving view records the sign without establishing whether the lettering is still visible today. 11-26

Storkland Baby Furniture
Birmingham, AL
Photo courtesy Paul Bauke

Here's another old painted advertisement hiding among the brick walls of downtown Birmingham. The big vertical Storkland Baby Furniture sign stretches down the side of the building on Second Avenue North, still making its presence known long after the store moved away. 04-09

Storkland got its start in Birmingham in 1947, selling cribs, nursery furniture and just about everything else needed for a new arrival. The family-owned business spent many years downtown before moving out to Vestavia Hills.

Interestingly enough, Storkland returned to its old downtown location in 2014 and opened a showroom here once again. Not too many ghost signs get a chance to advertise the same business twice.

UPDATE: Storkland no longer operates its retail showroom here. The building has been repurposed, while the old Storkland lettering still survives on the brick wall. 08-26

Storkland Baby Furniture
Birmingham, AL
Photo courtesy Paul Bauke

Look above the old Storkland Baby Furniture lettering and there's another familiar name fading into the Birmingham brick. This old Coca-Cola Sign still hangs above the Storkland ghost sign along Second Avenue North, giving this wall a nice double dose of old roadside advertising. 04-09

The Coke lettering has faded considerably over the years, but that familiar script is still easy to recognize. Below it, the much larger Storkland sign stretches down the wall, advertising the Birmingham baby furniture store that got its start in 1947.

There are actually several layers of old advertising scattered across this building, making it worth slowing down for another look. Sometimes one ghost sign just isn't enough.

UPDATE: The building at 2205 Second Avenue North still stands and has been repurposed. The old Coca-Cola and Storkland signs remain visible on the brick wall. 08-26

Dixie Cycle & Toy Co.
Birmingham, AL
Photo courtesy Paul Bauke

Bicycles, toys, and lawn-mower supplies gave Dixie Cycle & Toy Co. quite a range to advertise. Its painted Birmingham sign shares the brickwork with Cook Furniture lettering, including an offer of a free television. Look longer and still older messages begin appearing underneath, turning the wall into a collection of overlapping sales pitches. 04-09

Joseph Caiola operated Dixie Cycle and Toy with his sons for forty years. The wall promoted a wholesaling business whose merchandise reached beyond bicycles alone. Traces of Bull Durham, Uneeda Biscuit, and Sloan's Liniment add earlier advertising layers, showing how the same surface could serve different merchants and products over time.

UPDATE: The businesses advertised here have closed, but the repurposed building retains its collection of painted signs. Their overlapping lettering remains an interesting record of Birmingham commerce across several generations. 11-26

Coca-Cola
Birmingham, AL
Photo courtesy Paul Bauke

The familiar script on this Coca-Cola advertisement remains readable even after much of the surrounding paint has weathered away. Spread across a Birmingham wall, “Drink Coca-Cola” delivered a message that needed little explanation. Its survival makes an otherwise ordinary brick surface worth a second look. 04-09

Painted advertisements gave merchants a way to promote familiar products using space already available beside their businesses. The lettering could reach customers approaching along the street, while repeated exposure helped make the brand part of the neighborhood scenery. Here, the product remains identifiable even though the original advertiser and building history are uncertain.

UPDATE: The exact location of this photographed sign has not been established, and its current condition is unknown. The image preserves the weathered advertisement as it appeared in 2009, still carrying its straightforward invitation across the brickwork. 11-26

Jefferson Home Furniture
Birmingham, AL
Photo courtesy Paul Bauke

The Jefferson Home Furniture lettering was already fading into the brick when this Birmingham building was photographed. Its large painted letters recalled the years when downtown furniture stores used their walls to advertise to passing shoppers. Even with much of the paint missing, enough remained to identify a former occupant. 04-09

The Second Avenue North property housed several furniture businesses over its working life. Later plans proposed converting the vacant building into condominiums during downtown's residential revival, but that scheme did not proceed. The substantial commercial structure eventually found another practical use, retaining its place in the streetscape.

UPDATE: The former furniture building survives as a multi-story Public Storage facility. Its interior now serves a different kind of storage need, while the present condition of the faded Jefferson Home Furniture advertisement remains unconfirmed. 11-26

Lawyers Title Insurance Corporation
Birmingham, AL
Photo courtesy Paul Bauke

Some old signs just refuse to completely fade away. Check out the Lawyers Title Insurance Corporation lettering still showing through on this brick wall in downtown Birmingham. The paint has seen better days, but those big letters still stand out nicely against the building. 04-09

Lawyers Title Insurance Corporation once operated at 2105 Third Avenue North, handling title searches and insurance for Birmingham property owners. The company was part of a much larger national title insurance operation headquartered in Richmond, Virginia.

The downtown office eventually closed as the business moved elsewhere, but its name stayed behind on the wall. It's another one of those old Birmingham advertisements that probably gets overlooked by plenty of people passing underneath it.

UPDATE: The historic building still stands, although the current condition of the Lawyers Title lettering is unclear. 08-26

Causeyville Store
Meridian, MS
Photo courtesy Tony Craig

Here's one old country store with plenty to look at. The Causeyville Store near Meridian still carries the E.W. Hagwood Company name painted across the side, along with old Coca-Cola and Texaco advertising. 11-10

The store itself dates back to around 1895 and has served the little Causeyville community in one form or another for generations. Inside were all the things you'd hope to find in an old general store, including hoop cheese, bottled Coke and an antique peanut roaster.

The place even comes with a few ghost stories, including mysterious sneezing, flickering lights and a piano that supposedly plays after hours. Might be worth stopping by before dark.

UPDATE: The historic store still stands and has reopened under new ownership, with its old roadside character intact. 08-26