Thursday, 9 February 2012

TRADITIONAL GREEK SHOP SIGNS

In the late 19th and early to mid-20th century a tradition of hand-painted shop signs developed, with a strong folk art element to them. Genuine signs of this type can still be found in some old shops, but they are now mostly collectors' items that fetch a high price. There has been an effort to revive this type of shop sign with many new such signs being made and attached usually to tourist shops or shops selling traditional merchandise. Here are some  examples (with an English translation, in case they're all Greek to you!).


This post is part of the Signs, Signs meme.


Musical Instruments - "The Nine Muses"
Coffee Shop - "Beautiful Greece"
Shadow Puppet Shop - The characters beside the door are Karagiozis ont he left and Hadjiavatis on the right. Heroes of a popular shadow puppet series of plays, with Karagiozis being a poor and resourceful Greek and Hadjiavatis being a rather simple but well-off Turk
Tavern - "Bacchus"
Raki Shop - "Rakoumel" - Raki is a very potent spirituous liquor rather like grappa. It si a specialty of the island of Crete (shown in the map below the sign)
Posted by at

10 comments:

  1. Sallie (FullTime-Life)9 February 2012 at 01:45

    Great tour through very handsome signs, and I do thank you for translating! Because it was of course "all Greek ...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Photo Cache9 February 2012 at 02:04

    what a fine collection. i'm suddenly craving for greek food.


    www.ewok1993.wordpress.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lesley9 February 2012 at 02:43

    I am proud of myself for getting the Taverna Bacchus before checking your translation.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Pat9 February 2012 at 04:02

    Very interesting and colorful signs. Thanks for sharing AND translating!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dianne9 February 2012 at 07:37

    each of these have character and are more art than sign
    lovely

    ReplyDelete
  6. Gemma Wiseman9 February 2012 at 13:09

    I have never seen signs like this before! Especially love the whimsy of the shadow puppet sign!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Andy9 February 2012 at 13:47

    Beautifully colourful signs from an artist with a great imagination.

    ReplyDelete
  8. genie9 February 2012 at 18:38

    These signs are absolutely wonderful...a fabulous find and such an interesting post. Love the colors and that vintage look. Al of the sign appear to have real personalities. I really do like them genie

    ReplyDelete
  9. Carola10 February 2012 at 12:51

    Colorful designs. I like signs with letters I can't understand.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Penthe13 February 2012 at 23:31

    I love these folk art shop signs. Would be wonderful to have pone hanging at home. I can understand why people collect them.

    ReplyDelete

I love to hear from you, so please comment. I appreciate constructive criticism as it improves my skills as an amateur photographer.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)