In my last post I discussed the secret ghost signs of San Francisco - those quirks of geography or post earthquake development that are best viewed using Google Earth or similar satellite mapping software. It turns out that much like the ghost sign map in general, my understanding of San Francisco’s secret ghost signs is also evolving because I’ve recently found more of them.
This ghost sign on 825 Bush is noteworthy for the clarity of the text - OMAR in oversized lettering can be seen splashed along the backside of the building with additional faint rectangular graphics below it.
But before we get into what this sign might have originally depicted, let’s talk about where and how it was originally designed to be viewed.
Background on 825 Bush
825 Bush dates to 1907 and sits on a block demarcated by Bush, Mason, Sutter, and Taylor Streets. It’s a fairly standard building for this part of Lower Nob Hill - five stories of apartments surrounded by buildings of much the same height and type. The ghost sign in question stretches along the top three to four floors and faces to the west. (see the asterix in the map below) This means it faces across the hill rather than up or down the hill. Also, it is obviously no older than 1907. :)
Background on adjacent neighbors
Let’s look into the neighbors. As stated above, property records date 825 Bush to 1907, placing this building at the bleeding edge of post-earthquake recovery. So when did the neighbors start appearing? Below is the same image with the construction dates of the neighboring buildings added in. Note that I only bothered to date buildings that the ghost sign faces.
With a 1907 construction date, 825 Bush is considerably older than the other buildings on the block. The next closest in age is 863 Bush - built four years later in 1911, followed by 845 Bush in 1915. The last building added to the block was 855 Bush, which wouldn’t appear for another 27 years! On average, however, buildings on this block were not constructed until the second half of the teens, giving clear lines of sight from multiple angles for close to 10 years.
Viewpoint analysis
From 1907-1911 the sign was potentially visible along the majority of the block. See below.
When 863 Bush was constructed in 1911, the view would have been partially obstructed along the Bush and Taylor Street sides (although the residents of the top floors of 863 Bush would have had a PRIME view). To get another perspective on how empty the block, and unobstructed the views would have been, you can check out the 1913 Sanborn Map of the block in question.
By 1917 - ten years after construction - only half of the block had been filled in. However, 863 and 845 Bush, plus the newly constructed Metropolitan Club on Sutter, would form an effective block, or bottleneck, for the ghost sign. All but touching along the back property lines, and all being of a similar height to 865 Bush, they would have limited its visibility to the top floors of 863 Bush and a small sliver of Bush street proper. See below.
The ghost sign would not have been 100% blocked until 1922, but we should consider the sign’s effective “end date” as 1917. After this date it was no longer significantly visible from either the street or from adjacent neighbors. While some signs can function without clear lines of sight to the street, these are usually designed and positioned to take advantage of the city’s geography. This means they point up or down the hills to better position themselves in relation to their neighbors, but as we’ve established this was not the case with this particular one. Too many neighbors of similar height and an inopportune direction meant that once this was blocked in, it was really and truly blocked in.
So it’s safe to say… RIP 825 Bush Street Ghost Sign, 1907-1917. At least potentially.
Potentially? Well, I’ve only laid out a case for how and where the WALL would have been visible. I haven’t yet dated the sign itself. While it’s likely there’s significant overlap, it’s not guaranteed. So let’s look at that.
Omar as in Omar Cigarettes? It's likely
Let's look closely at what the sign depicts so we can better categorize and date it. As mentioned above, the ghost sign on 825 Bush is noteworthy for the clarity of the text - OMAR in oversized lettering can be seen splashed along the backside of the building with additional faint rectangular graphics below it.
I couldn’t find evidence for Omar being the building name - no Omar Apartments or Hotel Omar existed at this site, at least in the records I could find. Now, there is a historic brand called Omar that fits into our time period of 1907-1917 AND has some precedent for being in San Francisco. That is Omar Cigarettes.
This Omar Cigarettes ghost sign can be seen peeking out over the Union Square Sports Bar on Mason Street, just five and a half blocks away from our Bush Street sign. Omar Cigarettes were introduced in 1911 by the American Tobacco Company to capitalize on a craze for Turkish cigarettes, Middle Eastern exoticism, and the poetry of Persian mathematician and poet Omar Khayyam. With the translation of Omar’s Rubáiyát in the 1850’s, anything "Omar" had an immediate following, making him a popular namesake and literary reference well into the early 20th century. Just the kind of branding you'd want to make your Turkish cigarette stand out from the pack (pun intended).
If this is indeed an Omar Cigarettes sign then that cuts the lifespan of our 825 Bush ghost sign from 1907-1917 to 1911-1917. Which is still absolutely within the realm of reason!
Omar cigarettes were a luxury cigarette line with ads that played up the opulence and pleasures of the Middle East. Lower Nob Hill in this era would have been a very high class neighborhood with luxury apartment buildings and hotels and a large enough affluent audience to justify a sign of this size.
Do I think it’s an Omar Cigarettes ghost sign? I do. The style of the text seems to match, the faded rectangles could certainly represent cigarette packs, and it’s the right era and the right audience/neighborhood. If it is, it’s a quite different layout from the other existing Omar Cigarettes ghost signs. Both the Mason Street sign and the Tacoma, Washington sign are horizontal, but variations like this are not uncommon between signs, even within a city.
How can we definitively confirm if this is an Omar Cigarettes sign? Well, do you know anyone who lives or works on this block? Or do you have historic photos of this block pre-1917? If so, I’d love to talk and get your help definitively IDing this sign!