Signs of Australia: Vintage Signs from the City to the Outback

Once upon a simpler time, hand-painted and hand-crafted signs brought color and vibrancy to Australian towns and cities — advertising everything from dining rooms, milk bars, and CWA halls to Peter’s ice cream, oatmeal, stout, Chinese restaurants, and Shelley’s famous drinks. Now faded and slowly disappearing, they tell the story of life over two centuries, recording a distinctly Australian vernacular language. A keen photographer of the everyday, Brady Michaels has recorded an impressive array of signs from across Australia — from the earliest ads for household goods and services, to more recent but now defunct video lending libraries and internet cafés. These beautifully composed and nostalgic images are accompanied by brief commentary by Dale Campisi, who ponders the significance of these fading and disappearing signs — artful, kitsch, and at times hilarious — lovingly preserved through Brady’s lens.