GHOST SIGNS are hand-painted signs and stencils preserved on buildings usually for long periods of time, lost reminders of historic enterprises, advertisements, public notices and typographies.  Sometimes they have been deliberately preserved for nostalgic or heritage reasons or temporarily revealed by construction and demolition. All these signs have an important story to tell. The artists who crafted them were ‘street artists’ long before Melbourne’s fashionable art movement appeared in the late 1990s.
EXPLORE the City of Melbourne’s oldest heritage letter-forms and learn how their cultural stories express the life of a city.
OUR 2.5-hour walking tours are a journey through time and place exploring ghost signs in iconic locations: lanes and arcades, chinatown, warehouses, street art lanes and historic buildings. Tours are by arrangement at a time and date of choice.

SEE –  BOOKINGS

SEE – also our SIGNS IN THE CITY: TYPOGRAPHY TOUR

“For our holiday jaunt, the ID/Lab crew went on a tour of historic signage (guided by Melbourne Walks) in Melbourne’s CBD. Walking through the city, it quickly became apparent how much of the city’s history is reflected in the signs people choose to adorn their buildings. The rise and fall of Melbourne during the gold-rush, the various waves of migration, the emergence of street art, and the development of the iconic laneways were all apparent in one of the most common and underrated forms of Melbourne’s cultural expression. We had a fun time and learned a good deal about the history of our great city.” Staff group, ID/Lab Melbourne.

Hunting Ghost Signs is part of a growing ‘retrostalgia’’ movement by young people and urban archaeologists seeking to mine the richness of our past in order to gain a greater understanding of our present. In fact, hunting ghost signs has become a worldwide pursuit, with thousands sharing photos on social media. For those who hunt them, unearthing ghost signs is as thrilling as an excavation of ancient burial grounds.  In March 2013 an international Ghost Sign Conference was coordinated by Dr Stefan Schutt of Victoria University in Melbourne to share experiences from experts across the globe. 

The impermanence of these signs has fostered debate about whether precious signs should be afforded protection for their cultural and artistic significance in the same way as important sky signs such as the Pelaco, Nylex and Skipping Girl signs have been preserved.

Further information:
 Characters: Cultural Stories Revealed Through Typography, Stephen Banham, 2011.

These are some readings  used by students on our popular Runner/Squizzy Tour of the CBD exploring the novel by Robert Newton. See  Squizzy Taylor school Tour

STOP ONE: PARLIAMENT
Down near the Treasury Gardens he was with Parliament House up on the right…Approaching the Spring Street intersection I saw the blue and green runners some ten feet to my right. .. Like a madman I threw myself across the intersection between tooting cars and made it to the other side. I stepped into the Spring Street gutter and ran. (p 15)
 STOP TWO:  THE THEATRE DISTRICT
At school I quickly grew bored with my books. I dreamt of Bourke Street with its flashing theatre signs, ‘Bijou’ and ‘Gaiety’ and the sly grog joints and brothels of Little Lonsdale.. The street was my classroom now… (page 4)
STOP THREE: ROMEO AND JULIET LANES
Seeing me she broke into a smile. Charlie! Gawd, fer a minute I thought ya was one of me customers. There’s some right nutters among ‘em. ….’ I know ya don’t need me tellin’ yer, after all we all go ta make a living but there’s some nasty types in that Richmond push. Take it from me.’
STOP FOUR: ROMEO LANE
As soon as the parcel hit my hand I looked at the address. 200 Bourke Street, Melbourne. Immediately I knew it to be The Orient, a popular drinking den where a criminal record guaranteed you entry.
STOP FIVE: EASTERN MARKET, ALBERT FOX GREENGROCERS
At the Eastern Market in Bourke Street, I slowed to a walk and unfolded the list in my pocket. The first entry said, Albert Fox — Greengrocer 111 Bourke Street, £3.
‘I’ve come ta collect Mr Taylor’s money,’ I said
‘And what makes ya think I’d be willin’ ta fork over me ‘ardearned ta a pipsqueak like you?’ ‘
I can think of one good reason, Mr Fox. If Mr Taylor has ta come down ‘ere with Knuckles in tow, they won’t be sittin’ down fer tea and biscuits. I’ve just come from Mr Taylor’s place and I can tell ya, he’s itchin’ ta do ‘is block.’    (p 102-3)
 STOP SIX: BOURKE STREET – THE FITZROY VENDETTA
‘It’s just what I ‘eard, Squiz. They’re sayin’ ya short changed ’em with the takin’s from the jewellery job …’
‘Too bloody right I did. It was me and Matt Daly what did the joint over. I only let Cutmore shift the stuff ta get ‘im off me back. Sniffin’ around like a shit’ouse rat, ‘e was.’
 STOP SEVEN: THE ORIENT HOTEL, 200 BOURKE STREET
7A The Orient was fast approaching and I knew well that time was against me. I was gaining. Fast. The path ahead looked clear so I tucked my head and bolted. Twenty yards became fifteen. Fifteen became ten. I was near flying. Five yards. Barlow was almost there. As he raised his hand to the door, he turned and saw me lunging. Too late. Together we fell through the door and crashed to the ground in a heap, much to the delight of the crowded bar.
7B ‘Not so fast, gents,’ he said. ‘Are ya not fergettin’ somethin’?’`Fergettin’ somethin’?’ asked Dasher. ‘Like what?’
‘The eggs, Dasher, the eggs.
7C ‘Don’t let on, Charlie Feehan,’ he whispered, ‘but yer eggs  I ‘ard boiled ‘em meself this mornin’. Welcome aboard, lad.
 STOP EIGHT WARATAH LANE, GAMBLING TWO-UP DENS
For the residents of Richmond, only one person came to mind whenever Goodwood Street was mentioned. That person was Henry Stokes. Stokes was a self proclaimed Good Samaritan….The truth? Stokes was an SP bookmaker and sly grogger who’d done so well at his trade that he’d managed to build up a small fortune. As part of his tireless charity work, he ran Melbourne’s biggest two-up school (p59)
 STOP NINE: THE MELBOURNE HOSPITAL
Snowy Cutmore was well known as a man with a violent streak. Blue-eyed and blond-haired, he was one of the kingpins of the Fitzroy push — an unpredictable man with a liking for a scrap. Put simply, messing with Snowy Cutmore was bad for your health.
STOP TEN CORRS LANE – RUNNING SLY GROG
‘Jenkins?’ asked Nostrils. ‘That’s me.’ ‘We’re Squizzy Taylor’s lads, sent fer the liquor.’ ‘Come through, lads, I’ve been expectin’ ya… “Ere it is,’ he said. ‘Let’s see. . . two whisky, one gin and a ‘alf dozen bottles a beer. Must be some shindig.’ Carefully Jenkins loaded the beer into an old cement bag then fetched the whisky and gin. (p62)

EXPLORE the ‘Little Lon’ and surrounding precinct in Melbourne’s CBD where five of Australia’s urban archaeological digs have taken place, including Wesley Place, Casselden Place and Bennets Lane.
VIEW and handle archaeological artefacts.
DISCOVER what archaeological and heritage investigations have revealed about the lifestyle of early Melbourne residents from the 1850s – 1930s and their lessons for today.
VISIT the heritage sites of pubs, missions, schools, factories, Chinese cabinet makers and learn about characters who occupied them such as Madam Brussells, John Maloney, Mary MacKillop and Chong Cheok Hong.
LEARN the fascinating story of the buried blocks or “Melbourne’s Pompeii’.
YOUR guide, Meyer Eidelson,  is the author of ‘The Melbourne Dreaming. A Guide to Important Places Past and Present’ produced by Aboriginal Studies Press. In 2002 he was employed by the Melbourne Museum to run guided tours to the Casselden Place (Little Lon) excavation site. A detailed exhibition based on that dig can be viewed at Melbourne Museum.

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ALTERNATIVE OPTION WALKING TOUR B
PRE-HISTORY ARCHAEOLOGY TOUR :
EXPLORE the Pre-history archaeological setting of magnificent Half Moon Bay at Half Moon Bay, Black Rock half an hour south of Melbourne CBD. |
LEARN about archaeological sites such as, freshwater wells, ochre, stone, shell middens, fossils, lookouts and stone tool ‘knapping’. Learn about technologies of survival, including fauna and flora used for food, tools and medicine in the pre-history seasonal calendar.

See  BOOKINGS

BACKGROUND
The Casselden Place Archaeological Dig of 2002:
‘In 2002, digging commenced to expose the secrets of Casselden Place, part of the city block bordered by Lonsdale, Exhibition, Little Lonsdale and Spring Streets. Industry Superannuation Property Trust, the owners of the site, sponsored the project. The project was managed by Heritage Victoria. On-site archaeolgy was co-ordinated by Godden Mackay Logan and Austral Archaeology to a research design provided by La Trobe University Archaeology Program. Though covering a smaller area than that excavated in 1988, the size of the fieldwork team and the detail in which excavation work was conducted made the Casselden Place dig the largest archaeological project ever undertaken in Victoria. Over 135,000 artefacts were uncovered over a 12 week period. These artefacts were initially stored at La Trobe University, where several reports about each type of object – clay pipes, buttons, bones, etc. – were written. The majority of artefacts uncovered were later transferred to Museum Victoria, where analysis is ongoing.

A selection are held by Industry Superannuation Property Trust, and are displayed in the foyer of its new building in Little Lon. Analysis of these artefacts and subsequent historical research have enabled us to challenge the ’slum’ stereotype that typifies Little Lon. The story we can now show is that under adverse conditions, individuals and families managed to make homes, raise children, and establish businesses’. (Museum Victoria).

“Archaeological sites in Melbourne provide evidence of life in the region over the last 50 000 years, from the time of the earliest Aboriginal peoples, through the period of European contact, to inner-city working-class neighbourhoods as well as farms on the expanding suburban fringe. Some archaeological sites are buried and require excavation to recover the information they hold, while others include artefacts or structures visible on the ground surface which can be recorded by surveying. Most excavations within Melbourne are carried out for salvage purposes, when earlier sites are located during the construction of new buildings. Information from archaeological sites is first-hand evidence of the activities of people who have not left written records to tell their stories, and provides perspectives that are unobtainable from other sources.

The oldest archaeological site in the greater Melbourne area, and one of the most important, is at Keilor on the Maribyrnong River. A human skull discovered there in 1940 was later found to be around 13 000 years old, older than any other human remains found in Australia up to that time, and the find attracted worldwide attention. After small excavations in the 1960s and 1970s, in 1977 archaeologists from La Trobe University and the Victoria Archaeological Survey (VAS) began an excavation that continued for five years. The excavations found a sequence of stone tools and butchered animal bone buried beneath up to 5 m of silt washed in by floods over a period of 50 000 years. When the site was first inhabited by Aboriginal peoples, the region was still home to Tasmanian tigers (Thylacine) and to species of giant kangaroo and wombat, all of which are now extinct, although their bones have been found at the site. There were four major layers of deposited soils within the site, and artefacts were found in all of them, but most of the artefacts were found in the upper layer of the site and were less than 6000 years old. Many were also found in the same layer as two ancient campfires which have been carbon-dated to approximately 13 300 years old.

Other sites were used more recently by the Kulin people, the Aboriginal people in the Melbourne region. Brimbank Park, a few kilometres downstream of Keilor in the Maribyrnong River valley, has within its boundaries several archaeological sites, including quarries where stone for stone tools was mined, burial sites, and scatters of stone tools. As a result of the discovery of the burial site in 1965, the State Government acquired the site, which is now known as Kulin Wetlands. Some of these sites are approximately 17 000 years old.

Several large earth rings at Sunbury were also used by Aboriginal people, probably as places to hold ceremonies. The rings are low mounds of earth, less than half a metre high, that enclose circular spaces between 15 and 25 m in diameter. Similar structures, known as Bora grounds, were commonly used by Aboriginal people in Queensland and New South Wales but are rare in Victoria. Scarred trees, where the Kulin people used stone tools to remove bark for use in shelters, canoes, containers and shields, can still be seen in many places, including Fitzroy Gardens, Heide Museum of Modern Art and Brimbank Park. Shell middens – piles of discarded shell, charcoal, chipped stone and animal bones – once lined the edge of Port Phillip Bay. Traces of them remain on some suburban beaches. Many other places in Melbourne were and continue to be significant to the Kulin people, including the former Coranderrk mission at Healesville, the former Native Police Camps at Dandenong and Dights Falls, the Bolin Bolin Billabong meeting place in Bulleen, and corroboree trees in St Kilda and Burnley Park. No archaeological excavations have been carried out at these places.

Within Melbourne City, salvage excavations have taken place on sites at 300 Queen Street, on Little Lonsdale Street in the working-class neighbourhood of ‘Little Lon’, and at Cohen Place in Chinatown. The Queen Street site was once a private house, built in 1849 and occupied by an early mayor, John Thomas Smith. From the 1860s the building was used as offices. Archaeologists excavated a cistern behind the house which was filled with rubbish, first from Smith’s household and later from the offices. Smith’s rubbish was that of a middle-class household. It included toys, clay pipes, medicine and perfume bottles, and food and dishes used at family meals and when entertaining: expensive tableware, relish bottles, and seeds from peaches, plums, grapes, and other fruits. The office workers, in contrast, threw out cheaper cups and saucers used during their tea breaks, empty pickle and salad oil bottles from their lunches, and countless empty ink bottles.

In contrast to the lives of the middle-class people at Queen Street, the Little Lon site reveals the lives of people in a poor, ethnically diverse neighbourhood. There too, however, decorative crockery was used and children’s toys were found. At Cohen Place, Chinese families were using new English crockery as well as dishes and foodstuffs imported directly from China. All three sites encapsulate changes to the Central Business District in the 19th century, as homes gave way to commercial premises and as inner-city neighbourhoods were characterised as slums and subsequently targeted for destruction“…… More

From eMelbourne. The city past and present