It's no secret that Cincinnati is home to a wide array of colorful, if fading, vintage advertisements painted or fastened to the sides of historic buildings. Some — like Over-the-Rhine's Davis Furniture Building on Main Street and the Cincinnati Color Company sign that adorns a rehabbed building on Vine Street — have become iconic.
But others aren't well-known. While reporting for a couple upcoming stories, we ran into one obscure ghost sign that had recently been uncovered, and another that had moved to a new location miles away. That got us thinking — why not showcase some of the area's less-appreciated signs? We dug into a CityBeat reporter's photo archive and picked some lesser-known favorites, then went out and shot a few more. Most are still around, but we've sadly lost some in the past few years. All are within the city limits — except a select few somewhere in Northern Kentucky.
