When Wm. Stage began taking photos of old painted advertisements on buildings more than thirty years ago, he never thought that it would turn into a book. Now, he’s preparing for a signing of his third book on the subject. Stage will be signing copies of his book, The Fading Ads of St. Louis, tonight from 6–7 p.m. at Subterranean Books at 6275 Delmar. The Fading Ads of St. Louis was released mid-October and is part photo–documentary, part local advertising history. Whatever your interest may be, this book will reveal some unexpected and intriguing facts about St. Louis going back as far as the 1904 World Fair and beyond.
“I think I’ve got a documentary streak in me,” says Stage. “I’ve been a journalist for about 34 years, and I was with the Riverfront Times for about 23 years as a photographer and a columnist.” Stage came to St. Louis in 1978 when he was hired by the Center for Disease Control. As he was working throughout the city he began to notice that St. Louis had quite a few old painted wall signs. He started to carry a small camera with him as he worked, and took photos and began researching some of the products. “I like advertising in general and I guess I’m an advertising enthusiast,” Stage says. “I like the ability to find a wall where the product is extinct and you’ve never heard of it.”
Stage also explains that part of the fun is finding the different conditions of signs. “There are two kinds of signs,” he says. “Old signs that have been up for a while, from illegible to readable under certain conditions, and then the other kind where they tear down a building and they expose a sign that’s been covered up for years.” Stage likes to refer to the latter example as “commercial archeology.
Recently Stage discovered an old whiskey sign that dates back as early as 1899, that had been covered up for more than 110 years. The sign was revealed when the building next to it fell down and partially exposed the wall. Another discovery came when Habitat for Humanity knocked down a building in preparation for construction on St. Louis Avenue and discovered an old ad for Dau Furniture from sometime during the 1920s or 30s.
His first two books, Ghost Signs: Brick Wall Signs in America and THE PAINTED AD: A Postcard Book of Vintage Brick Wall Signs had national scopes. As many of his photos depict signs that advertise local products and companies, he realized just how much his work is a history of the local advertising industry in St. Louis. So, when History Press approached Stage about a third book, he decided to focus on St. Louis. At the signing tonight, there will be a small exhibit of Stage’s photos, some published and some not.
Though Stage can’t exactly pinpoint when he started noticing these old signs, it’s been a lifelong hobby for him. “It just developed from a natural interest in my surroundings and traveling through old cities made of brick,” Stage says. “You wouldn't find too many of these in the Southwest where everything is made of stucco.”
You can find out more about Wm. Stage and his work at paintedad.com. He will be holding another signing on Wednesday, December 4 from 5:30–7 p.m. at John D. McGurk’s at 1200 Russell.
