New book celebrates Melbourne’s ghost signs and the stories they tell

From Robur tea to Tarax soft drinks, a new book pays tribute to beloved “ghost signs” and logos slowly fading from buildings across the city.

Sean Reynolds liked the Robur Tea sign so much he got it tattooed on his bicep. Picture: Supplied

Ghosts of Melbourne’s past are on display in a new book which pays tribute to beloved signs and logos slowly fading from buildings across the city.

The history of so many forgotten iconic brands and businesses, and the people behind them, is celebrated in cultural archaeologist Sean Reynolds’ book “Ghost Signs of Melbourne”.

Mr Reynolds is worried we live in a city which is “devouring its past” and prioritising progress over beauty.

Ghost Signs of Melbourne

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“Melbourne is a battle between the beauty of our old buildings, their old signage and historical things, with the modern stuff and moving ahead,” he said.

“We have to find that balance and I’m not sure if we are finding that balance.

“(If) we lose these stories, and we lose a bit of our community and pieces of ourselves.”

The release of Mr Reynolds’ book this week has coincided with news of yet another sleek modern development being approved in the city, a $520m trio of apartment towers in Docklands.

Shot Tower in Melbourne. Picture: Sean Reynolds

The book’s author said he was not “anti-progress” but thought modern construction did not pay sufficient attention to preserving Melbourne’s history.

“I work in the CBD, and every day there’s a new building going up, a new building being torn down,” Mr Reynolds said.

“I’m not sure we are doing it in a way that celebrates our past.”

Many of the vanishing signs around Melbourne also celebrate Aussie brands which have either gone bust or been absorbed into large multinational corporations.

The likes of Robur tea, ETA peanut butter and Tarax soft drinks are no more, and John Bull Oats were wiped from existence after Nestle bought the company which owned them and Uncle Toby’s in 2006.

“The book is also a history of all the goods and services that were uniquely Australian that kind of disappeared as well,” Reynolds said.

Hurstbridge Milk Bar — now known as “The Bridge Store”. Picture: Sean Reynolds

“You look at a sign and at one point that was someone’s family butcher shop, or it was a tea company that was here in Melbourne.

“And now a lot of those are big multinational companies, you’re not going to look at a McDonald’s in 100 years and go, ‘Oh, man, I wonder who ran this McDonald’s?’”

Mr Reynolds, an American who moved to Melbourne in 2015, said he had initially been inspired to create his ode to the city’s history during a lockdown walk with his daughter.

His obsession with the signs he saw walking around his adopted home of Footscray spawned an Instagram account which now boasts over 28,000 followers, and now the book.

A tattoo of a Robur Tea sign even adorns his bicep.

“Being an American, moving here, seeing how much of the old townhouses and the two story Victorian homes and the turn of the century stuff that is still around is really amazing,” he said.

“In America, we really do tear a lot of that stuff down.

“I think America is one of those places that I can look to as an outsider and say we’ve really destroyed a lot of our history, and we’re in danger of doing the same thing here.”

While the book focuses on buildings within Melbourne, Reynolds’ social media is a treasure trove of history from throughout the state.

He’d like to tell the whole of Victoria’s story next, one sign at a time.

Melbourne Ghost Signs is out now, published by Scribe and available here.

Originally published as New book celebrates Melbourne’s ghost signs and the stories they tell