A Very Old Ghost Sign

Simon's Plaiting Establishment ghost sign on the north side of Clay Street between Park and Liberty.

From what I can tell, this is one of, if not the oldest, ghost signs still visible in Baltimore city. For a long time I had no idea what it said other than Simon's...but Simon's what? I knew it was very old by the clothing the two women in the advertising sign were wearing. So, I started researching Simon's clothing and eventually found this in a 1901 Baltimore city directory.

I was very excited to solve this riddle of what Simon's actually was. The location of the business was just around the corner from the old sign. I knew immediately by the address that this building had been torn down many years ago, most likely for  The Charles Center urban redevelopment project.

Here's the block the business used to be on before being torn down and what it looks like now.

Simon's Plaiting Establishment was located in one of the small buildings on left above (north of) the 21 story Baltimore Gas & Electric building.

Same view today.