When I started the ABC-Along, I made a tentative list of words, and right away knew that H would be hankies.
I had a modest collection of hankies, 10 or so, when the Dee-vorce process began. During that time, I was in tears a lot. Well, my heart was broken, after all, and there was nothing for it. I traveled nowhere but with a pack of tissues, even though the lint often wreaked havoc with my contacts. But the day at work, after I had already met with someone at length, when I went to the ladies room and discovered, much to my chagrin, that I had tissue debris all over my face, I knew I needed another strategy. At home that evening, from my lingerie drawer, I brought out my hankies, and ironed them all. I always have a hankie in my bag now, for tears and sneezing. (The blowing of noses still calls for tissues!)
My collection...
Dearest Sister has had a lifelong obsession with hankies that I did not comprehend until this point in my life. First, she forwarded to me an additional supply. Then she related her finds of hankies at estate sales and auctions, and later how she discovered hankies on Ebay. I was amazed, strangely intrigued, and somehow challenged…
Here we are before a piano recital. Look closely...she is holding a hankie..
THIS hankie...she has it still!
So now I have a more than modest collection of hankies, but not as…vast…as Dearest Sister’s. As I decided how to portray my hankies for this post, I sorted through my collection again. I may be at a loss to describe the feeling. They are like little works of art. Some indeed are, as ‘designer’ hankies. Others are pieces of handiwork, which I consider someone’s craft. They are a link to a less disposable time, a time perhaps a bit more gracious and graceful in some ways.
Some of my hankies have been purchased as souvenirs, at antique shops on vacations. Some are gifts from those that know of my penchant for hankies. Some I bought from my ‘hankie pusher’ on Ebay. (Wonderful Guy was more relieved than he will admit when she went on hiatus last year and I was forced into rehab.) Certainly there are pricier ones, but I don’t think any over $8…and some were bargains at less than $1.
I have printed, embroidered, appliquéd, tatted, and crocheted hankies. I have cotton, linen, and silk hankies. I have some with the original sticker, and some that show a lot of wear. I have bridal and mourning and lipstick hankies. I have hankies of all colors, and I love all them all.
This is one of my most unique. Talking flowers, and if you can read the words, they are speaking French! Les fleurs parlent francais! C'est bon!
(Maybe I should see what my hankie pusher is offering this week….all this hankie talk has given me the yen!)
5 comments:
Lovely!
My mother always kept a hanky tucked in the cuff of a sweater or long-sleeved blouse.
Yes, hankies are a thing of the past. My mom always carried a hankie when I was small, then she switched to tissues. Less ironing I imagine! I still have a few of them tucked away with her things. They are miniature works of art and I never used one because I couldn't bear to soil it by using it for the purpose it was meant for! :) I like that sentence you used about them being from a "less disposable" time.
You and your sister could pass for twins in that photo. How cute is that?
Loved your Mom posts. I'm sure it was very cathartic. I need to do one for my Mom some day.
No clue yet what my "H" will be. You were smart to make a tentative list of subjects. Mine just come to me (or not!).
I lost my sister-in-law to breast cancer last year and your post brought back all the memories of her carrying hankies. She was wonderously old-fashioned carrying the hankies on her home turf of the Upper East Side of Manhatten! No paper tissues for her!
The talking flower hankie would be my favorite. Very cute.
Love the hankies, made me remember going to church with a purse with only a hankie in it. I used to make babies in a cradle with the hanky. Thanks for the memory!
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