Ghost Sign: Pepsi-Cola – Richmond, Virginia
In the fall of October 2018, I rode through the city of Richmond, Virginia on a Sunday morning. City riding isn’t so great, generally. But being on a motorcycle gives you the opportunity to pull over, squeeze into tight spots for a few minutes and to park and snap pictures in a way that you couldn’t possibly do in a car. Being on a low, slim bike like the Bonneville makes that even easier.
I was in town spotting ghosts. An old city like Richmond, has plenty.
This Pepsi-Cola ad is just hanging on for dear life. Topped off with “Watkins Barber Shop” the bottle cap is but a whisper. A quick search around the web and you can find images of this wall that were much more vibrant. Hang in there, lovely. We still see you.
Without any knowledge of the company’s history, I have no idea if they ever engaged in widespread campaigns like Coca-Cola. In my travels, I haven’t had the opportunity to see many Pepsi ghost signs. Off the top of my head, I can only think of one other. It was in Galena, Kansas:
Now that my antenna is up, maybe I’ll start seeing them.
[edit] How could I possibly forget the gorgeous Pepsi ad on the old post office in Burke’s Garden?
Nice post and photo.
Lovely. The older I get, the more sentimental I feel about old things. They embody the life of earlier times, life that affects the present like ripples in a pond. The closer you look, the more connectedness you see between then and now.
I just saw an informative documentary on the struggle between Ford and Ferrari in the 1960’s in car-racing. The film explains what led up to that, what happened, and its aftermath, consequences of which still affect us today. Previously I knew only small bits of the story (e.g., recognizing Nikki Lauda from having seen the 2013 film, “Rush”); this new information expands my grasp of that history. And now I see that Matt Damon and Christian Bale are starring in a new movie, out in November, called “Ford v Ferrari” which tells the same story. From having seen the documentary, I know the key people (e.g., Phil Remington, the greatest car-mechanic who ever lived; Carroll Shelby, whose career is well-known) who’ll be portrayed in the film. The old affects the present.