BLAG 02 is ComingOn Monday I was at the printers watching the pages of BLAG 02 coming off the press. Just like Issue 01, it was a magical experience, seeing the digital files taking physical form.  Interior pages from BLAG 02 in sheet form, ahead of having the reverse side printed. Shipping exclusively to Blaggers from the end of November. Everything is on schedule for the magazines to be trimmed, bound, and shipped exclusively to Blaggers from the end of the month. It is once again packed with 64 advertising-free pages of the latest adventures in sign painting and I can't wait to get my hands on it.
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BLAG 01 in the ShopNew Blaggers will now receive Issue 02 as their first delivery. As a result, I've made the remaining copies of Issue 01 available for individual purchase here in the online shop, offering an opportunity to 'try before you subscribe'. If you're already subscribed, then please share this with anyone you know that would like to see the magazine. If there are any copies of Issue 02 left once Issue 03 is at the printers then I'll do the same with those. However, the print run is the same as Issue 01 and there are now more subscribers, so this is not a sure thing. The only way of guaranteeing your copy of Issue 02 is to sign up as a Blagger. What's New Online?The latest batch of online articles straddles three continents, including profiles of two sign painters from Delhi and New York respectively. (This international focus is important to me, and is once again prevalent in Issue 02 of the print magazine.) You'll also find some tips for lefties from 'down under', and murals galore from America's west coast. As I mentioned last month, comments are now open for online articles. This led to some interesting (and saddening) discussion underneath the piece about the hand-lettered theatre curtains in Ludlow MA. Tips For Left-Handed Sign PaintersBeing left-handed is no barrier to becoming a sign painter, and these tips from Larry Stammers will help you get going. Read more... Walldogging Galore at the MuralFest In The Dalles, OregonThe Walldogs painted 17 murals celebrating the city, history and people of The Dalles, Oregon. See more...  Nate Grice at work on the Ben Snipes mural designed by “The Wing Nuts” Sonny Franks, Eric Skinner and Russell Kelly. Painter Kafeel: Keeping it Hand-Painted in IndiaDelhi sign painter Kafeel rejected vinyl, kept it hand-painted, and now has a new global clientele. Meet Kafeel...  Painter Kafeel taking a break from his latest commission to be interviewed by Hanif Kureshi. Noble Signs in the Ascendency in New YorkDavid Barnett's award-winning sign painting for the Ascenders at Type Directors Club. Learn more... Sign Painters Don't Read SignsThe third part of my digitisation of Syl Ehr's Sign Painters Don't Read Signs is now available. In chapters VI–VII he talks about the various different clients he worked with over the years, and some noteworthy public interactions he had while painting signs. Read them here. And One from the ArchiveEventsBig news this month is that tickets are now available for a very special Letterheads event coming to the Dingles Fairground Heritage Centre, 24–25 March 2023. Elsewhere: the Justin Green memorial exhibition continues in Cincinnati until the end of December; Amsterdam plays host to the WordPerfect group show; and James Clough is giving an online talk on the history of writing. These and many more in-person and online events are listed at the usual page on the site. If you're running an event that you'd like to see listed then please get in touch with details by reply to this email. LinktreeIf you have some adventures in sign painting that you'd like me to share with readers then please reply to this email with details. History of the Beverly Sign CompanyLast week I burned the midnight oil to listen live to Bob Behounek's fascinating presentation on the history of Chicago's Beverly Sign Co. The firm had a huge influence on the design of painted signs, which extended well beyond the city's limits. Bob's talk is now available here on the American Sign Museum's YouTube, including mention of a forthcoming book about the firm and its importance in the history of sign painting. Watch it now... PS. The American Sign Museum is currently fundraising for a major expansion project. You can support this work here. David A. Smith's Online Gilding CourseMonths in the making, the launch of David A. Smith's online glass gilding course is nearly here. You probably won't be working on anything as complex as his recent Ludlow & Blunt piece, but this promises to be an illuminating and deep dive into the mysteries of this craft. Learn more...
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Pigments at Pompeii Small cup with yellow pigment, 1st century CE, yellow ocher, Pompeii, National Archaeological Museum of Naples: MANN 112257. Image © Photographic Archive, National Archaeological Museum of Naples. In my work on Ghostsigns I've sometimes taken things right back in time to look at sign painting in Pompeii and Herculaneum, as well as even earlier examples of paint on walls. A new discovery this month was this page talking about tools and materials, including compasses and pigments, found at Pompeii. Read more... Cambodian Signs: Ten Years OnThis month marks the tenth anniversary of self-publishing my first book, Hand-Painted Signs of Kratie. It tells the story of painted signs in Cambodia with a survey of those that survive(d) in one small town in the country's northeast. The publication is available as a free ebook, or via Amazon's print-on-demand service. There are details on this page, including other free downloads and resources. This page then has more sign painting publications that I've since been involved with. New York, 1945I love the fact that people take time and effort to colourise old black and white video footage, and particularly enjoyed this one from NASS on YouTube because of all the signs. (Some of these look like they might have been part of the 'Modernize Main Street' movement.) Based on a billposter in the footage it has been dated to 1945, and there are over 100 more to enjoy on the NASS account. If you like that sort of thing, then the Film Rescue account also has lots, including this busy street scene from Manchester in 1901. Ghost Sign CornerI was recently reminded of the book, The East End In Colour, 1960-1980, which includes the above photo taken opposite Spitalfields Market in 1970. Two of the signs still survive, although changes to the Donovan Bros. one (bottom left of the picture, behind the blue car) are documented in this extended article on the Ghostsigns site. The other survivor is the uppermost Percy Dalton panel. This has decayed significantly since the business moved away from Spitalfields in 1977. Their new location on Dace Road in Hackney Wick also has a piece of surviving signage (see fat script below), and their paper bags featured their brand mascot Nutty telling customers to "Leave the rest, buy the best!". However, it also looks like he's also giving them the finger! Percy Dalton signage on Dace Road, Fish Island, and the brand mascot Nutty on a bag of roasted peanuts. And finally...Camden Lock's Swinging Sign PaintersThis bridge at Camden Lock is a London icon, but I'd never noticed the two sign painters at work. (Yes, a Londoner obsessed with sign painting missed this!) They were painted in 1989 by artist John Bulley and I was alerted to their presence while investigating the trompe l'oeil on this page of Richard Gregory's site. John Bulley kindly replied to my enquiry, letting me know that: "It [trompe l'oeil] was by a fellow Oddbins Art Department worker Francis Martin… He’s one of the blokes I painted on Camden Lock Bridge."
Thank You! Thanks inside BLAG (Better Letters Magazine) Issue 02. Thank you for reading this latest BLAG (Better Letters Magazine) email newsletter. Don't forget to tell your friends (click/tap 'forward' on this email, or tell them to subscribe here), and get in touch with things to include in future issues. All good things, Sam bl.ag / @betterletters
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