vintage mural ads & other signage by Frank H. Jump & friends
…we see superb depth of topic exploration in Fading Ads of New York City. Don’t be fooled into thinking this is a mere beautiful coffee table book; instead, it is a homage to the brilliant landscape of New York that offers ad space like no other city and looking at it in a historical context is incredibly enlightening and entertaining. – Peachy Deegan, Whom You Know
Fading Ads of NYC (History Press, 2011) © Frank H. Jump
Is this what urban authenticity is all about; letting the material layers of yesterday live on in peace and speak their wisdoms to us through their decayed beauty? This question comes to mind as soon as I start to look at the beautiful photographs in Frank Jump’s Fading Ads of New York City. Jump has devoted 15 years to scouting these ads, some of them more than 100 years old. Fading ads, also called ghost or vintage ads, are old advertisements painted directly onto exterior walls, which have then been protected from the elements by either new adjacent buildings or a favorable northern exposure. Since discovering his first faded ad in 1997, Jump has carried out his urban visual archaeology all over the city. The book showcases his earliest work, a ‘double documentation of obsolescence’ (34) through the use of now distinct Kodachrome positive slides, rendering gorgeous vintage-style photographs. Featuring essays by an urban historian and a visual anthropologist among others, the book is divided into commercial sections of ads such as ‘Breweriana’, ‘Music and Entertainment’ and ‘Savings, Loans and Fur Vaults’ making the book an excellent urban visual lexicon of bygone companies and ad painters. Moreover, Jump contextualises many of the photographs through excerpts of interviews and anecdotes, as well as citing what others have written about his work in blogs and magazines. In his photographs, Jump puts his finger on the escaping sense of urban authenticity, pinpointing these mundane material layers of the city (the ads were often seen as vulgar nuisances in their own time) that have survived the forces of urban gentrification, these visual winks from those that came before us.
Jump also briefly touches upon the problem of conservation, or rather, the problem with conservation: should these signs be restored to ‘their former glory’ (58), or should they be respected and praised precisely because of their decayed beauty? This philosophical question ties in with the book’s overall aim of not just documenting the fading ads, but also narrating, through his own words and others’, Jump’s personal story with being diagnosed with HIV at the age of 26. The struggle to live with this disease for more than half his life becomes interwoven with the existential dimensions of the fading ads, seen by Jump ‘as signs of life, metaphors for survival’ (87). The ads have survived through the decades, and like many people with HIV and aids, often under adverse circumstances and against all modernist and commercial odds. The ‘sense of urgency’ (28) with which Jump has traced and documented these ads rings with the urgency he must have felt in the face of his illness, giving an edge to his work, reminding us that all dimensions of the city go together.We and our bodies are also material parts of the big urban machine and we will all fade away.
This interwoven approach makes for a rewarding read;however, it is also that which fully packs and somewhat clutters the book, making it difficult to sometimes focus and follow its thematic threads. The book wants to stand on two legs, but once in a while it doesn’t seem to know which one. Above all, I keep wishing for more space for Jump’s beautiful images, instead of their too often being crammed into pages with words. Generally, I would have preferred more emphasis on the photos in the layout, and for the texts to be slimmed down and more stringently edited. In addition, I would have loved to see these old-school Kodachrome photographs reprinted larger on sturdier and less glossy paper (think e.g. Camilo José Vergara’s visual work in American Ruins (1999)). However, I can without doubt understand the editing dilemmas (and costs) that must have gone into laying out the book from such an extensive material, and these are marginal comments that should not overshadow the fact that Jump’s book is a devoted and impressive personal project that has regaled us with a rich visual history of an often overlooked part of the mundane urban tapestry. – Ann Kroon, Stockholm University – Published online: 03 May 2013.
Visual Studies – Volume 28, Issue 1, 2013
Fading ads of New York City
by Frank Jump. Foreword by Andrew Irving,
Introduction by William Stage, Epilogue
by Kathleen Hulser.
Charleston and London: The History Press, 2011,
216 pages
ISBN: 1-609-49438-5 (hardback)
Reviewed by Ann Kroon, Stockholm University
REFERENCE
Vergara, C. J. 1999. American Ruins. New York: The Monacelli Press.
© 2013 Ann Kroon
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1472586X.2013.765249
Menu cover from our first restaurant in Rome
Vincenzo and my trip to Rome together in 1991 was magical. To this day, it is probably the most romantic journey we’ve ever taken together, save the RV trip cross-country two summers ago. We wandered into this restaurant, trastevere, and were given menus. When they heard Vincenzo speak to them with his faux Roman accent, we got other menus. These. Better selections. Cheaper prices. We stole them. When in Rome, do as the Romans do and take the silverware. Nah, I’m only joshing folks. But this really was a great meal and I’ve done some Internet surfing and they are still around and have gotten good reviews. So when in Rome, go to Trattoria Lilli and say Enzo and Frank say hello. Don’t tell them we stole their menus.
PS: Happy Valentine’s Day Vincenzo!
CLICK FOR PDF
Other Valentine’s Day postings:
Purple Yam - 1314 Cortelyou Road, Brooklyn - 718.940.8188 - © Frank H. Jump
It’s the day after my fiftieth birthday and I decided to give myself a long awaited treat. Ever since I saw the new “pan-Asian” restaurant storefront pop up on the ever-changing Ditmas Park landscape, I’ve wanted to pop in – but never found the right moment – plus I live with a bit of a picky eater whose tastes are somewhat broader than the average diner, but still limited when it comes to Southeast Asian, Malaysian, Indonesian and Filipino cuisine. So I’m alone on a rainy afternoon and decided to give myself a little birthday present.
Purple Yam - 1314 Cortelyou Road, Brooklyn - 718.940.8188 - © Frank H. Jump
The Purple Yam on Cortelyou Road in Ditmas Park is an exciting addition to the growing choices of places to dine out in our little corner of Brooklyn. If you would have told me ten years that a casual pan-Asian restaurant with a Filipino based menu would be opening up within walking distance of the Cortelyou Road stop on the N train – I would have said “Get out!”
Granted, Filipino and Indonesian cuisines have had a hard time making a foothold on the East Coast in general – when only twenty years ago did Thai, Malaysian and Vietnamese cuisines begin to become mainstays in Asian dining in Brooklyn. West Coasters have long appreciated “alternative” Asian cuisines, compared to the standard fare that was offered for decades by Americanized Mandarin and Szechuan restauranteurs here in the Tri-State area. But I’m glad to see there is finally a market for a more daring, less cliché Asian fare in our neighborhood.
Purple Yam - 1314 Cortelyou Road, Brooklyn - 718.940.8188 - © Frank H. Jump
For brunch, I enjoyed the Fresh Lumpia with peanut and tamarind sauce as a starter. I requested some sambal (a hot chili paste condiment) with my appetizer and it looked as if the charming and eloquent chef Romy Dorotan (Romy and partner chef Amy Besa – formerly from Cendrillon in Soho) had whipped it up from scratch. As a main course I had a noodle dish – Pancit Luglug – thick rice noodles with ground pork and shrimp in a delicate but well-spiced sauce. So delicious. For dessert, I had the special Filipino lime meringue pie with a scoop of guava ice-cream and a raspberry sauce. Magnificent!
Purple Yam - 1314 Cortelyou Road, Brooklyn - 718.940.8188 - © Frank H. Jump
Don’t wait for a rainy day to go to the Purple Yam! Support local businesses now.
Reviews:
Purple Yam website:
March 13, 2010 11:37:38 PM EST –
Dear Frank:
This is such wonderful feedback and a great story at that. Love it! Thank you so much for sharing your experience with your readers. We actually prefer these unpredictable results than formal reviews. They are so honest and surprising.
Thank you so much and hope to see you again!
Amy & Romy
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