Were old Japanese signs and labels written from right to left?

I’m reading a manga that takes place in Hokkaido, early 20th century, and whenever a storefront sign or a label is shown, the characters are written from right to left, regardless if they’re kanji or kana. They’re not mirrored or anything, just positioned in the opposite order. For example, the sign at the Sapporo Beer factory reads ルービロボッサ. When written vertically, the characters appear in typical order.

I know this is not how it’s written nowadays, but I wonder if it was so, or if the mangaka had maybe other reasons to do so…