Like the words of a doting grandmother from a bygone age brought back to life, a breakfast message emerged from the dust of a long-delayed building demolition in San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood last week: Eat Carnation Mush.
Based on the 1912 construction of the Columbus Avenue building, the ad likely saw little daylight before the Verdi Building’s presence canceled it for around 112 years.
While the ad’s product sounds curious, and maybe a little gross, this isn’t the only San Francisco example of a Carnation Mush ghost sign. The term ghost sign could be used for any abandoned sign but best describes the murals hand-painted on the sides of American buildings in the early to mid-1900s. Hundreds of them can be seen today in various states of decay in the Bay Area, if you take the time to look…