American Sign Museum

American Sign Museum
2515 Essex Place
Cincinnati, Ohio 45206
(800) 925-1110
(513) 258-4020, ext. 336
Fax: (513) 421-5144
E-mail: tod@signmuseum.org

Frontier Phantoms
Touring Helena's Ghost Signs

By Vince Moravek

When first stepping foot on Last Chance Gulch over 20 years ago, the huge old Eddy's Bread ads painted on the flanks of the Iron Front were noticed immediately. A little hard to miss, I admit, but more striking then their incredible size was their simple existence. Actual relics from a bygone era still surviving. Whether deliberately left in historic appreciation or just luck, the fact that they remained through the years for us to see and appreciate helped characterize my impressions of the Capitol City.

So unlike Kansas City, Helena retains its frontier atmosphere. We see it in the landscape, people and attitudes. This place is steeped in Wild West history, surrounding and reminding us all the time. Our downtown and historic districts are virtual outdoor museums with still-functioning artifacts in form of their buildings and architectures.

Like the Iron Front Eddy's Bread, very few of these elder buildings still speak of their colorful histories beyond the Historic Register plaques with surviving "ghost signs" advertising long-extinct businesses and products. And as the structures themselves, these ghost signs rate recognition as true museum pieces in their own separate category.

Most of us are familiar with the biggest and most grand of these "frontier phantoms" visible on the Gulch Eddy's, Helena Hardware Co., and Firestone Tires are old friends with relatively clear lettering and easy recognition. Same with the Parchen Block's GENERAL ARTHUR CIGARS. But do we know of all the others, some hidden and some so faded as to be nothing more than tantalizing fragments, like potshards sticking up through Egyptian sand?

Let's take a tour…

"Granola Block" Mystery

Okay, so the building name isn't official but more recognizable (west side of Fuller Street holding the Sweetgrass Bakery and Reynolds Drugs). On the south-facing wall, rising over the adjoining structure, there is a large banner sign right below the roof line. Try the back alley if invisible from the street and good luck deciphering anything past the first "S". Translation pending.

Union Market 3/4 101 East 6th Avenue

UNION MARKET MEMBER ASSOCIATED GROCERS, visible on the Jackson Street wall, looks fresh enough to be alive 'n kicking but has actually been well on its way to ghost sign status for nearly two decades. As with most signs, it's impossible to put a date on their original painting (or repainting), so we must go by the age of the businesses they served. In this case, the Union Market operated from 1900 &endash; 1988 (the last 30 by the DeWolfs). This may well be the last left in future years without preservation efforts on the others.

Herrmann Furniture Company 3/4 201 Broadway

1988 must not have been a very good year because that too saw the closing of Helena's oldest operating business. George Herrmann was one of Montana's founding pioneers, arriving in the 1860s and setting up a furniture workshop by 1869. Herrmann began construction of this grand brick building in 1872 after his current shop burned. Fellow German immigrants (some of which worked in his shop) boarded upstairs while customers downstairs had their pick of a wide selection of wonderful handcrafted furniture and coffins for George's undertaking sideline. No sign of body boxes for awhile now, but on the west wall a sharp eye might still make out: FURNITURE, RUGS & LINEOLEUM.

G. Herrmann was here until the 1870s; store ran through to 1988; also did coffins and embalming on the side

Diamond Block Mystery 3/4 400- 52 West 6th Avenue

One of the oldest and most intriguing signs is found on the far upper left corner of the Diamond Block's east face. Have you seen this before? Until undertaking a deliberate search, I didn't have an answer… it's subtle and deteriorated to defy easy recognition yet one of those things that once noticed, the eyes are drawn to it every time. Perhaps you might want to take a look first, before reading the translation. It's a beaut. Try standing on the corner of Hibbard Way and 6th.

Enough lettering remains to make it a real puzzle. But the name's unusual and it took a city directory to translate: F. C. SUTPHEN - DRUG STORE - PRESCRIPTIONS (?? A SPECIALY??) The final "IALTY" fragment still has the jury out. Frank Sutphen opened his drug store in 1891. Operating there until 1914, Frank's store was a Helena institution until his death on June 10, 1916 at the regrettably-young age of 49.

Considering Frank's son John didn't follow in his footsteps, becoming a respected dentist until mid- 1920s, the Sutphen ghost sign has looked out over us for close to a hundred years. How many of us can say that about ourselves? F. C. Sutphen may have gone the way of all mortal men, but evidence of his name, work and life yet remain… if not currently a bit worse for wear. Makes me want to say "Way to go, Frank!"

Significantly, this drug store sign shows up in some famous old photographs. The most well-known of these is a 1903 Montana Historical Society photo showing the charred ruins of the original Montana Club, stone arches and foundation blocks sticking up like broken teeth after the club bartender's son torched the place. Attention is always on the smoking wreck, but way up there in the corner, F. C. SUTPHEN stands proud.

Advance three decades to 1930s street scenes and Frank's sign continues to be recognizable, but now fading more than the shot thirty years prior. A very persistent landmark indeed. As many photos as the Montana Club draws over the years, it would probably be a relatively easy task to compile a series of shots covering its whole existence.

Age of this sign? Another MHS photo dated as "turn-of-the-century" taken on top of the Power Block shows enough to note the remaining drug store sign was not yet up; tagging its origin as between 1900 and 1903… a solid century at least. And if the resolution was good enough, this photo would also solve the mystery of an accompanying drug store sign fragment of vertical lettering surviving on the same wall, far to the right and visible only from Fuller or the alley behind.

The final note on this Diamond Block wall is a hint at further treasures. Check out any 1903 photos of the Montana Club's destruction below the F. C. SUTPHEN sign we see today (and before the Penwell Building was built beside it), was a gigantic, probably color, QUAKER OATS masterpiece.

Could this sign still exist a century later, perhaps hidden between the walls?

Gold / Western Bar Bldg.

This building has been around awhile witness the glorious C. F. FORTMAN - HAY, GRAIN, COAL AND WOOD adorning the alley wall passageway. That's Clemen H. Fortman, arriving in the early 1890s. And while there near the south wall, see if you can make out the HELENA VARIETY STORE banner. On the left side, you'll see fragments of yet another ghost sign (possibly the unspecified business of a P. W. WOODS, barely visible in the background of another 1930s-era photo on page 168 of Jean Baucus' Helena, An Illustrated History).

Flanking the front door are twin vertical - DIATOR, beginning letters obscured. "Radiator"? Could be talking auto repair or heat. Lastly, look up above the last set of windows on front of the building, furthest north section: CAFÉ & MEALS - 75Ë. Now that had to be a long time ago!

C.F. Fortman: Hay, Grain, Coal and Wood (circa 1901)

PALMQUIST ELECTRIC / HUBER

In the parking lot just north of the Gold/Western Bar building, the colored Palmquist Electric Co. sign with its embedded Westinghouse Appliances is another well-known ghost sign gem dating from the middle of the last century.

Beside it shows another, much older sign declaring HUBER · OTT · JASMIN - HORSE SHOEING AND GENERAL BLACKSMITHING. Chances are this is a later business incarnation of Philip Henry "Shorty" Huber, known to have started a Fuller Street blacksmith shop around 1909. We'll have to wait to pin down his partners.

Before leaving the Gulch, take a closer look at the Iron Front's masterpieces. On the north Eddy's, you'll see a rare corporate signature for the long-defunct Helena Sign Co.; the Firestone sign sports its own signature for Black Sign Co., also lost to the mists of time. Let's head east.

"Too dark!" says Huber Jamine Ott Co. - Horse shoeing and General Blacksmithing

Lehmann's Market 3/4 6th Avenue & Hoback

Way back in 1867, Helena had its own Lehman & Bros. Grocery & Produce on 53 Main Street. By 1868, city directories list three "Lehman"s: our previous listing as a George from California, one from New York and another from Idaho. However, the market we see today is from a family that first arrived in the United States after 1900. And descendents are still with us Paul operates his accounting office next door to the old family market that closed in the 1950s. Look on the back wall for the ghost sign and be sure to say Hi to Paul, a veritable fountain of historic lore.

Brown Building 3/4 11 - 21 N. Warren

This gorgeous brick structure from the 1870s functioned as apartments and shops. In 1888, the captain of the Vigilantes, V. X. Biedler, boarded here. Evidence of prior businesses show up barely on both north and south walls.

From the alley on the south side, we can see showing stubbornly through multiple layers of overlapping paint: "MILLINERY &". Not having anything to do with seeds or grain as this Midwesterner first thought, a millinery is an archaic term for the designer and maker of ladies' hats and headdresses. A lot of other lettering can be seen but remains a puzzle. Take your best guess. Still pending is a possible connection of reports of what I call "The Blue Ghost in the Brown Building" to these old seamstresses. The full-figure female apparition is reported to show up in bright blue frontier finery.

In this upper corner apartment, a female ghost in bright blue "frontier finery" sometimes appears according to reports.

On the north side facing Breckenridge, another roofline banner sign looms large but nearly unrecognizable. Here is another example of passing by a historical artifact hundreds of times without seeing it. Once spotted, that can be understood. The first "S" is visible; the rest…?

Here's the translation: SINGER MFG. CO. (or possibly "MFGD" in the form of old-style spelling). In the 1886-1887 directory, a listing exists for "A. O. Simons, agent Singer Machine Co., office Brown's Block, corner Warren & Breckenridge, res. near artesian well." Love that home address! This particular sign can be dated through the history of the Singer business. The first company, I. M. Singer & Co., was a major manufacturer by the mid 1800s, going from 2,564 made in 1856 to nearly 13,000 in 1860.

In 1863, however, the company was dissolved and reincarnated as "The Singer Manufacturing Company" due to financial reorganization. This name remained in city directories before formally becoming the Singer Sewing Machine Company in 1905. By 1908, the business moved down to Main Street. The last business listing for Singer in Helena occurred in 1973, disappearing from its 1600 11th Avenue location.

Another century-plus artifact.

Allen / McComas Livery

314 Breckenridge.

Saved one of the crown jewels for last.

This building, built sometime between 1884 and 1888, is now a County Garage and has been referred to as the Thomas Sillers' Livery. While Sillers did have that location much later (mid 1900s I believe), grand evidence of the original owners is what we see today. This needs to be renamed the old "Allen / McComas Livery".

Each side contains sweeping masterpieces of old brick wall art, including advertisements for Capitol Crackers, Rex Flour, National Biscuit Company and a large "U" that may or may not be another overlapping Uniroyal. The origins of those will be revealed later as space demands focusing on the best, namely the old stable signs.

This livery is a freak'n treasure; signs everywhere!!

Two names here: J. E. Allen and Wm. R. McComas. Who were these guys?

Both Joseph Eugene Allen and William McComas first show up as horse stable proprietors in Helena in 1883, but working at separate locations. J. E. is first at the Breckenridge location as proprietor of "Court Square Corral, rms @ same". McComas is busy as the junior partner of Piatt & McComas, Northern Pacific Stables, on "corner of Benton Avenue near Edward" (later 13 Edward).

Interestingly, J. E. Allen may have taken over from his father. In the earliest available city directory of 1867: "Wm. H. Allen, corral & feed, lower end Rodney". This William Allen shows his operation clear through 1883 with Joseph's first listing. Considering Joseph kept the same "Court Square" Livery name that W. H. used at that location in 1877, (in addition to W. H.'s rooms as being there also), it's pretty clear they were related. William H., by the way, is listed as one of Montana's Society of Original Pioneers, noted in their registry as arriving in Montana on April 10, 1862. (COURT SQUARE can still be seen on a metal strip above a door on the south face.

Joseph ran his livery, feed & sales stables for nearly 20 years until 1900, remaining listed as only a resident until his move off the radar to Toston in 1903. Along with his father, Allens have operated at that location for 33 years. J. E.'s sign is over 103 alone.

William McComas, although in the business for as long as Joseph Allen, didn't arrive at the Breckinridge location until 1910 with the McComas & (Edward) Jezick, Livery Sales and Boarding Stables. A year later, the two men were running the City Cab & Transfer Company with offices at 133 1/3 N. Main and stables at 314 Breckenridge. The Jezick partner disappeared by 1913 to simply McComas Livery and Feed, through to his last listing in 1917. In apparent retirement reward, William McComas then moved to Honolulu, Hawaii after his minimum 35 years of livery operations.

It's important to note that this is indeed a minimum for William McComas. Like J. E. Allen's father of the same surname, this McComas is also listed as belonging to the Society of Montana Pioneers. We gain more insights about him: "Born in Richmond, Indiana on January 5, 1845. Place of departure: Jackson County, Iowa. Route traveled: across the plains. Arrived: Virginia City July, 1863. Occupation: livery & stable prop., res. Helena." No doubt. Same guy.

These remaining signs are artifacts of not just defunct merchants, but some of Montana's very first original pioneering families and evidence of their success in the Wild West. The translations of the "box" signs on east and north sides, by the way, read FINE HACKS & MINERAL BARS. Hacks were carriages and/or horses hired out for all kinds of work. Mineral bars is assumedly a horsie treat, not an early health saloon.

These signs show further amazing details, including very rare artist signatures. The south side banner shows, certainly predating Looney Tunes: ACME SIGN CO. Then, on south, east and north sides are real treasures: each banner is signed by a mysterious CARLEY, representing the only individual sign artist signature known in town.

We're looking at the last surviving works of one Ancill D. Carley, first listed in 1892 directories as "painter", res @ 1315 Boulder Avenue. Later listings refine this to "signwriter". Carley hangs around (also with a son Allmon D., carrier for the Daily Record), residing at 663 N. Warren until their last listing in 1909.

Whether working independently, traveling or as part of a formal sign company, these brick wall artists of old were known as walldogs. In the east, using wide barn sides as their canvas, they were sometimes called "barn lizards" or "barn massagers". Today, those definitions don't even exist in the dictionaries. Their unique profession helped define the landscape of the Old West, ubiquitous in nearly every old photo, yet very little is known of these people or even the businesses they advertise.

When possible, putting real names, lives and faces to these relics helps to vastly increase their relevancy, value and place in history as well as our own. Whole new understandings and perspectives. What other ghost signs are still out there, hidden around corners or preserved in the dark black of adjoining walls? What technology is available to peer under old paint to reveal the history beneath? What other stories?

Later, I hope to bring forth more answers and revelations, including deciphering the currently unknown as well as continuing the search for the lives behind the ghosts. For example, did you know Helena's own Eddy O'Connell is the name behind the nationally-recognized Eddy's Bread? Could "Rex Flour" be named for the English King of the same nickname? What about National Biscuit and Capitol Crackers?

More importantly, what are we doing to preserve these treasures? Should we repaint, seal or let fade? Let's hope we come up with a plan before these unique frontier phantoms dissolve away for all time. Stay tuned as research continues.