Ghost Sign-Southwest corner of 6th Avenue and 14th Street.

I took this photo about 2 years ago, and did some initial research into these ghost signs, but I gave up after finding very little. But I was researching the NYC 1940s tax photo collection for a different 6th Ave. ghost sign and came across a photo of a familiar corner. Although the upholstery sign is still a mystery, as well as faded sign to the right, I was able to discover the ghost sign was an ad for “Kenlastic.”

Kenlastic was an elastic stitch developed for corsets by the James R. Kendrick Co. – based in Philadelphia and NYC. The July 1921 edition of The Corset and Underwear Review states, “The stitch locks itself around the rubber threads, adding strength and resistance as well as beauty to the garment, and they expect it will appeal strongly to the corset trade.”

I don’t know when Kenlastic started in business an ad from Vogue in 1924 mentions “America’s leading medical authorities have specified Kendrick elastic” for more than fifty years, putting them in business since 1874. 

Their heyday must have been around the 1920s. I found a series of ads from The Washington DC Evening Star all from 1927.

 A later ad from 1974 shows a Kenlastic “support.” As women stopped wearing corsets by WWII, the company must have segued from fashion to medical wear. 

The latest mention I found is in a 1984 U.S. Patent and Trademark Office register.

As for the location of the Kenlastc ad-it was most certainly to take advantage of the 6th Ave. elevated train!