Gary J Sibio
Bankes Coffee Ghost Sign (2018-07-05 16-34-59a)
The sign is located on the south wall of the building at 3413 North Clark Street in Chicago, Illinois (Lake View/Wrigleyville).
The building that the sign is on was built in 1894. The building which was torn down to reveal the sign was built in the 1920s so the sign is over 100 years old. The building is scheduled for demolition in the fall of 2018.
Bankes refers to Ireland-born Edward Bankes who ran a chain of coffee shops in Chicago similar to Starbucks. By 1916 he ran 20 coffee shops.
The photo was taken with a Nikon Coolpix P7700 camera and edited using ACDSee Ultimate 2018. First I corrected the perspective which was off because of the angle from which the photo was taken and cropped it a bit. I adjusted the white balance and the lighting and boosted the contrast, clarity and vibrance. Lastly I increased the brightness of the reds and yellows and adjusted the tone curve to make the letters stand out better as I assume it would have looked like originally.
© 2018 Gary J. Sibio. All rights reserved.
Another classic you have found Gary. Very cool photo.
Thanks, Carol. Too bad it’s days are numbered.
That is a shame as for many other ones as well.
I really like objects from the past that are either preserved or at least, left to slowly decay naturally. This ad, is an incredible example of it. Thanks for sharing it.
You’re very welcome. I like finding and photographing stuff like this.
Fantastic..photo is very nice .. that sign should be saved.
Unfortunately the building is going to be torn down. Like the building that blocked the sign, it is in the way of a project to improve the elevated trains.
It’s sad that this part of the wall could not be saved ..
There are actually quite a few ghost signs around Chicago. I’ve been trying to photograph as many as possible. Here are two others I have shared on Virily: https://virily.com/culture/old-coca-cola-ghost-sign-2012-10-25-13-29-55a/ and https://virily.com/culture/mcdonalds-ghost-sign-chicago-illinois-2014-05-21-11-31-17a/
Very nice photos..but now you have a memory of all of this.
Good photo and neat backstory.Thank you for sharing .
Thanks, Branka. I appreciate it.
Very cool photo and neat backstory. Thanks.
You’re welcome, Robert. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Thank you for sharing this story of Bankes Coffee.
You’re welcome. I’m glad you liked it.
I like coffee shops since they are great places to relax.