Fading Impressions

By Leo Racicot

I first noticed ghost signs around town about twenty years ago; I was sitting at the depot when I noticed the faded Hood’s ads on the side of the old Thorndike Factory Outlet building: Hood’s Vegetable Pills, Hood’s Ointment. There were names of other Hood products but they’ve faded over time. This is why it’s so important, I think, to try to preserve them, as history, as culture, as advertisements of the way the city used to be. I like taking photos of them and of murals in general because of their impermanence; you go back a week, a month, a year later and they’re gone. The urge to capture them, like scarabs in amber, is strong.

The J.C. Ayer ghost ad downtown on Middle Street is probably the most recognized of Lowell’s signs. It, along with the Rogers sign, also on Middle Street, are hard to miss. Both are still well-preserved. J.C. Ayer Company was once a mainstay of Lowell in the 1900s, offering residents, as it did, so-called “quack” patent remedies like Sarsaparilla, Cathartic pills, Ague cures, hair tonic (“vigor) and my favorite name, Cherry Pectorals “for anything that ails you”. Rogers was, of course, one of Lowell’s big toy and novelty stores and is still, I believe, in operation, selling pools and pool equipment.

For years, I’d take ghost sign strolls around the city to see what I could see. One sign that has proved a challenge for me is the Uneeda Biscuit ad on Merrimack Street near where the Royal Theater used to be. Due to heavy construction in that area, the awkward location of the sign, the trees, I’ve not been able to find a proper vantage point from which to snap it in its entirety. I’ve tried taking a photo from far away (Zoom lens), from close up (can never get close enough) but never can commit it to film. I keep trying.

The nicest sign, not diminished by time, is the Lawrence Manufacturing sign near Riverwalk Way. I was out walking Sally DeAngelis’ dog, Ruby, when I happened quite by accident to turn around and there it was. It quite startled me; I didn’t know it was there, had never heard about it. Luckily, I had my camera handy, snapping it from many angles. A true Lowell treasure.

The Lowell Sun newspaper sign downtown, towering above Prescott Street but visible from lots of different observation points, isn’t, strictly speaking, a ghost sign. I’ve heard it referred to as The Citgo sign of Lowell, in reference to Boston’s legendary Kenmore Square landmark attraction. DIY efforts to keep it looking young continue and it says and hopefully will always say Lowell to those of us who remember its banner landmark status from when we were kids.

The author thanks Joe Markiewicz for suggesting “ghost signs” as the topic for this essay.

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J. C. Ayer Co. on Middle Street

Lawrence Manufacturing Co.

Rogers Toys on Middle Street

Uneeda Bisquit