Commission Merchants

Railway Building, 1872
Scottish Bank Building, 1876

This beautiful sign is inside the Scottish Bank Building and is painted on the adjacent Railway Building looking north.

COMMISSION MERCHANTS
STAPLE GROCERIES AND PRODUCE
FOREIGN & DOMESTIC
The two buildings were lovingly refurbished by the Leuthold family in 1993. Thanks to Jerry Ketel for sending this photo.

Packy Mural

Reed Building, 1890

This isn't really an old advertising sign but it's rapidly disappeared, going from full quality, to ghost sign, to gone, in a matter of just months. I decided to include it here because it's an iconic portland mural. The top started coming down in early April 2008 and by early May it was chopped up and sandblasted almost to extinction.

Also known as the Skidmore Fountain Building and the Packer-Scott Building, the Reed Building was constructed by Simeon Reed as a wholesale warehouse. The building is undergoing a $25 million renovation as it becomes the new headquarters for Mercy Corps.

The mural was painted in 1990 by North Pacific Sign & Design. It featured Packy, born at the Oregon Zoo on April 14, 1962, becaming the first elephant born in the Western Hemisphere in 44 years.

2007:

2008:

Marble Works

Young's Marble Works, 1880

This ghost sign is barely visible now. It appears to have been painted over at one time, has suffered some graffiti damage, and has weathered significantly over the years. It is passed thousands of times per day by people crossing the Burnside Bridge yet you have to look closely to see it; it's tucked away from the street and overlooks a demolished building's garbage-strewn basement. It's on the south side of West Burnside between 1st and 2nd. Next time you are at Saturday Market, walk up to the bridge sidewalk and take a look.

In addition to the marble works, the two-story brick building has been used as a factory, warehouse, retail establishment, and is currently home to the Salvation Army.

2007:

Unknown, Holm Hotel

Holm Hotel, Circa 1890

Urban decay at its finest! Even the plaster on which the sign is painted is falling off the brick exterior. I can't make anything out except "WORK and SPORT" beneath the large letters at the top. See for yourself from SW 3rd and Ankeny.

From National Historic Landmark Nomination, Skidmore/Old Town Historic District:
This property has two distinct but conjoined structures on one taxlot. Both are three-story brick buildings surfaced with stucco, with streetcar-era storefronts at the lower level and two stories above. The southerly building is narrow, with a bracketed sheet metal cornice, segmental-arched windows and a belt cornice. This building has had some alterations, most likely when Burnside Street was widened in 1926. The northerly building has a simple cornice and rectangular windows with transoms. Alterations also include storefront modifications from the mid-1980s.

2007:

Ghirardelli's

Western Rooms Building, 1906

This sign advertising Ghirardelli Chocolate is very hard to make out any more. Years of weathering, and probably other layers of advertising, have made it all but unreadable. It must have been quite striking in its time because of the sheer size of it, taking up the entire west-facing wall of the building housing Berbati's Restaurant. The four-story brick building was constructed for hotel and retail use in 1906.

The first photo was taken from the surface parking lot across SW 3rd at Ankeny, the second taken from atop the multi-level garage at SW 3rd and Pine.

2008:

Mallory Logging

United Carriage and Baggage Transfer Co. (Old Spaghetti Factory), 1875

This "Mallory Logging" sign was visible for decades after the company had vacated the building. It's now been painted over a few times and is gone. On the right-facing wall of the 1996 photo is a small painted-over section, just above an electric sign box. That painted-over area once said, "Old Spaghetti Factory," that restaurant chain's original location beginning in 1969.

The view below is from the corner of SW 2nd and Pine.

From National Historic Landmark Nomination, Skidmore/Old Town Historic District:
The three-story brick building was constructed as a livery by the United Carriage and Baggage Transfer Co. which occupied the structure until the mid 1890s, after which it was occupied by Mitchell, Lewis & Staver Co., sellers of vehicles and machinery. Around the turn of the century the American Steel and Wire Co. was located there, as well as the J. McCraken Co., commission agents and suppliers of storage facilities and building materials. From 1908 to 1968 it was occupied by the F. B. Mallory Logging Equipment Co.

1996:

2008:

Scottish Bank Building Details

Scottish Bank Building, 1876

This is a lovely handpainted "48-1/2" address over the door of the Scottish Bank Building. It's address is now 122 SW 1st Avenue.

2008:

Suits - Raincoats

Bickel Building (Wachsmuth Building), 1892

This fine old sign is on the west-facing wall of the Dan and Louis Oyster Bar (The "New Market Block" is on the building a block to the east). There's more to be seen of this sign but not from street level. Getting higher might tell us the business that painted this sign.

Stand at SW 3rd and Ankeny to see this.

2008:

Crane Co. Pipefittings

New Market Annex (New Market West), 1889

This five-story building was constructed as a warehouse, forge, and annex to the New Market Theater and carries a very nice "CRANE CO. - PIPEFITTINGS and PLUMBERS' SUPPLIES" sign.

There's also a smaller Foster & Kleiser sign below and to the left of the Crane ad. "REMOVED" is all that's visible until the trees drop their leaves.

This area can be difficult to see because of the tree growth around the building. The first photos below are from SW 1st at Ash. Walk down Ash to SW Naito Parkway to get a more distant but more direct perspective (bottom photo).

1994:

2008:

Hotel Stratton

Porter Hotel Building, 1898

This Hotel Stratton sign is very hard to see in its entirety. You can see "HOTEL STRATTON" okay but below that in large letters is "ROOMS." To the left of that is a finger-pointing image but you have to be on about a 2-foot square bit of sidewalk to see that. It's also adjacent to, and partially covered by, the Coca-Cola sign from several posts ago.

I'm guessing this was painted before the three-story Trivet Towers was built in 1902, otherwise there's no way it could have been seen effectively. Peek around billboards and trees to see it at SW 3rd and Ash.

2008:

Unknown

Trivet Towers, 1902

On the other side of the Trivet Towers building (from my previous post) is this unknown sign. "...MIN'S EXCHANGE" was about all you could make out in 1994. Even that is gone now, painted over to cover graffiti. View what's left from SW 3rd and Pine.

1994:

2008:

Avery & Co. Hardware

Trivet Towers, 1902

The "Avery & Co. Hardware" sign is one of the better known signs in downtown. Sitting low on the Trivet Towers north face, this is directly in front of you as you drive south on SW 3rd after crossing W. Burnside. It's even visible on Google maps street view.

Some careful repointing of the bricks at the top of the sign, and the recent moving of the cables that once crossed its face, indicate that the building owners are concerned with preserving this fine sign. Looking in the lower-right edge, this sign was painted by Foster & Kleiser.

See this from the corner of SW 3rd and Ash.

1994:

2008:

Coca-Cola

Porter Hotel Building, 1898

This Coca-Cola ad is actually a series of three signs. The center panel on the back of the old Porter Hotel reads "Coca-Cola" while the left panel reads, "Delicious and Refreshing." The right side "Relieves Fatigue" panel is very hard to see from the street. The "Delicious and Refreshing" campaign dates to about 1904.

This is best seen from SW Ash between 2nd and 3rd Avenues.

2007:

Unknown

Haseltine Building, 1893

This was probably quite a sign back in its day. The paint is now so faded that from the street you can barely tell there was an ad there at all. Admittedly not the greatest photos or angles, the 1994 photos show quite a bit more detail than is visible now. There probably won't be anything left 14 years from now.

The Haseltine Building was constructed as a mercantile building by James E. Haseltine, a wholesaler of various goods including hardware, hardwoods and wagon-making materials. You can see what remains of the sign from the corner of SW 3rd and Ash, or for a more complete view, go to the top of the Embassy Suites parking structure at SW 3rd and Pine.

1994:



2008:

Wholesale Stationer

Scottish Bank Building, 1876

Very little can be made out on the ad on the south side of this building. The whole thing has faded quite a bit in 14 years but that's actually made it a bit easier to read. I can barely make out "WHOLESALE STATIONER" across the middle, and "PAPER DEALER" below that in the latest photos. The orange ball is a complete mystery; the first three letters look like "Sea..." but that's about it.

See for yourself on SW Pine between Naito Parkway and 1st Avenue.

1994:

2008:

Piano Factory/Machinery/Unknown

Portland Machinery Building (now 208 Building), 1895
Seuffert Building (now Lombard Building), 1889

Perpendicular to the wall in my previous post is this pair of walls on adjacent buildings; the Portland Machinery Building in the background and the Seuffert Building in mid-field. The Piano Factory sign is painted atop the Machinery Co. sign, and both are quite visible still, but the closer sign, on the Seuffert Building, is unreadable now.

These two signs are slightly visible from SW 1st and Oak, but are almost impossible to see from the street. I was able to get a photo from the second floor of a building across Oak Street.

2008:

Delschneider Building

Delschneider Building, 1859

The west wall of the Delschneider Building is rich in advertising history. Very little is readable any more but bits of the many layers are there to be appreciated. "Ghirardelli's Chocolate" can be made out on the left side, as well as "Keene Cigars." Fragments of many old signs can be seen on the right side.

The Delschneider Building (the three story building at the far right) is the second oldest building in the Skidmore/Old Town area. It was first used as a factory by the Novelty Iron and Brass Works. You can see this great wall from the corner of SW 1st and Oak.

2007: