building ad

Can't miss this ad when you're driving by.  Makes billboards seem puny.  Spotted in Uptown on Telegraph and Grand Avenue.

Skywatch Friday: Triple Rock

This building may be advertising a Berkeley brewery, but this building is in Oakland.  You can see it from the Highway 24 freeway.  Looks ol' timey, but it is a relatively recent ad.  The rain is returning and it actually snowed in Fairfield, which is about 40 minutes northeast of Oakland on the way to Sacramento.  Snow in Fairfield?!!  For more sky views, Visit Skywatch Friday.

unique living

The old warehouse district next to Jack London Square has been going through gentrification with old factories converting to loft/condos.  New condo buildings also fill the area.  The trend started with Jerry Brown, our former governor, former mayor, and now governor-elect.  Years before he ran for mayor, he converted a warehouse near here into a work-live loft and office for his Presidential campaigns.  He deserves credit for changing the face of Oakland's downtown housing.

Why?

Walking around downtown one day, this caught my eye.  These Italianate buildings date from around the 1870s.  According to that font of all information, Wikipedia, this MJB coffee ad campaign started in 1910; but there was no word on how long it lasted.  Don't know how old this particular sign is, but it is a well preserved blast from the past.  Somehow I don't think this ad campaign would do well today.

when buildings were billboards

Spotted on Broadway near 20th Street.  This building has a minimum of three different advertisements on it. In January Sydney Eye did a cool series on these kinds of ads.  They are like portals to the past.  These will be completely obscured when the trees leaf out.