8 May 2018, updated :

Well preserved ghost signs on the cnr of Bank and Cecil Streets, South Melbourne. I didn’t have much to say back then, but @melbourne_ghostsigns has since done great research, so now I know that :

The building is 1882, mostly a real estate office until becoming the Baker family grocer in c1899, and that the signs all probably date from their 18 year occupation. So there’s Dr Scott’s Balsam of Horehound (it’s a herb), which cost 6 pence, and J Kings Crown Brand Self Raising Flour (they went out of business about 1911), and some others I failed to photograph! I do wonder now whether some of the ancient signs like these are still around because they were painted over, and that modern paint didn’t last like the old oil paints, and eventually wore off ? Or possibly the modern paint later removed revealing the signs ? Or have the signs been there all along?

Oh, just found a photo from the early 70s at the @library_vic, they were painted over ! Update : just sold a week ago; it’s got a double front lounge room, and three beds upstairs, not a lot of original detail except the stair.

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