Was cleaning 100 years of roofing tar off the back of a sign recently and came across some marks that at first glance were random, it was only after turning the sign a particular way that it became clearly obvious what it was. I find the backs of these signs as interesting as the fronts, am I the only one?

I've thought that before Mick, not only with signs, but also with crudely slip-glazed early pots, where you can see how they were held, when the glaze was applied, before firing.

My Victorian terrace house has fingerprints all over the brickwork from whoever handled the bricks before they were fired - they cannot be rubbed off. Judging by the size of the hands they seem to be child-like