My 88 year old mother in law brought over some handkerchiefs with pretty crocheted edges...
...and included were a few with lovely tatted edging...
I love old hankies...
I have quite a few that belonged to my Nana and my great aunts...
...but I have never seen anything like this one...
Yes, it is a hankie that was typed on...
...and not by just anybody!
Apparently Hazel and Eleanor were Mr. Flea's great aunts...the sisters of his grandfather...
...and the two other girls were their cousins...
Al...to whom the hankie is addressed, ended up married to Nellie....
I don't really quite understand the humor, but the girls were all teenagers when they created this missive and the year was 1902.
Was this proper ladylike behavior?
Perhaps the handkerchief was never dispatched to the handsome Al...
...Big berry man?
He bathes every 3rd week and is a clean cut man?
That part we will never know!
But I do think the first paragraph is worth repeating:
Don't be afraid of anything
Through life just freely roam
The wirld belongs to all of us
So make yourself at home
As it was in 1902....so it is now in 2010.
Good night! :)
Good night! :)
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46 comments:
Love old hankies, I have good dozen or so that belonged to my great-grandma. It is fun to have things that once belonged to those who have gone before us.
Love the hankie to Al..that is one old hankie with an awesome story,. :o)
How cool is that! My granddad had hankies, wish I would have kept at least one of them.
That is so cool and poignant.... how lucky for you to have discovered this....Maryanne xo
Those are incredible... what a fun and unusual keepsake!
Bella
What a treasure! A piece of early altered art! Theresa
Wow that is very interesting, all of my artwork has typed stories on vintage linens that I make up
wondering if someone will find my linens years from now and think, what is this
Amy
All of your hankies are lovely, but the one typed on by Mr Fleas Great-Aunts is truly delightful. Kim
I love old hankies and the wonderful trims. The typed one is a hoot!!
Such sweet hankies but that last one takes the cake...what a keepsake! It's like looking back in time. I'm sure you'll treasure that one always. Thank you for sharing these with us! Have a wonderful Thursday! Maura:)
These are all just wonderful...but the typed hankie is really special!
What a wonderful find. The verse at the end is really something. Beautiful post - thank you for sharing
Great pieces of treasure to love!!
Cariños,
Maria Cecilia
I see you have great pieces of enamelware... I love them too!! Come see mine!!
Greetings from Chile,
Maria Cecilia
The crocheted and tatted edges are beautiful!
I was oohing and aahing over the crochet and tatted hankies but you definitely saved the best 'til last. Just goes to show, despite the decorum of the times there are always those who live outside the box! Fabulous.
Laura
How incredibly sweet.. I like the 'this space reserved for tears' also!! so sweet.. How do you think they achieved this? Lots of starching? very creative I think!! Take care xxx Julie
excellent! You should type the rest of the story on the bottom!
jackie
bliss farm antiques
What wonderful hankies ! I love the sweet edges ~ I cannot even imagine spending so much time working on the edge of a hankie ~
Your collection of crocheted and tatted hankies are priceless, and WOW on the last one. I love the verse and it's history you provide is a keeper. For a Clean Cut Man....not sure a bath every 3rd week would cut it with my hard working guys...hmmm
Thanks for sharing this fun entry
What a FABULOUS family treasure!!!
Goodness Gracious!
That is an amazing piece of art/ poetry /history and just plain brilliance!
That bit of poetry is going to be adopted as me new mantra!
Lovely lovely...lovely.....such wise words
Oh and that in 1902...love it.
Nice day
Such beautiful hankies with the crocheted edges. That last one sure is an unusual treasure, Laura. Utterly unique! But words of wisdom that stand the test of time...
...I have a small collection of pretty edged hankie's too! ~ but have also never seen one typed on!!...my favorite is "this space reserved for tears"...as I imagine with 4 girls and 1 berry man, there were alot of those!!!
xo, Rosemary
That is hilarious! The most original hankie on the planet. You should frame it and hang it proudly in your home!
"This space is reserved for tears" - too touching.
Dear Laura,
First of all, sorry that I have missed a few of your lovely posts. I seem to have been very busy this week.
I just love the typed hanky. I think that I would have got on really well with Hazel and Eleanor. I think that they were just a little bit mischievous !!
.... and, what pretty handkerchiefs your MIL brought round for you. They look beautifully laundered and, there are a couple of blue ones in there. She obviously knows her DIL very well.
Have a lovely weekend, Laura. XXXX
Thanks for the giggle. The un-typed on hankies are beautiful...beyond. How clever to type on a hanky ;) Makes me want to try it!
Such a unique family treasure! Don't you wish you could talk to the sisters and find out more about them? What did your mother in law say about them? Please tell us more,
Annette
How fun and creative they were:) I have just started to collect pretty white hankerchief myself. I love the tatting work they put into them.
~Debra
Blog: Capers of the vintage vixens
Oh my gosh...that is the sweetest hanky... wow! Incredible!
Oh my god! how nice they are and they weave a lot of work!
With the letter is in love, how nice that your mom kept it in such good condition.
Regards
Xime
I LOVE this sweet post! How wonderful to have a hankerchief so rare! You have a beautiful blog and I enjoyed my visit.
Hugs,
Maryjane
That is so funny Laura!
How fun to have something like that.
Teenage girls are funny no matter what year.
Rosemary
Lovely, I can hear the girls giggle.
OOOh Laura what a FIND!! I have an ooooold typewriter that I would love to get fixed. You have ONCE AGAIN inspired me. What a fabulous idea. How amazing. Isn't it lovely to find out the characters that made up our family? Much love
Today's post dedicated to you. Just finishing off putting in the links ;-)
Bisous
How wonderful...just found your fabulous blog. I looove the hankies, a great piece of family history and social history too. I feel inspired to go seek out an old typewriter and express myself on a hankie!
Nice to meet you ;-)
LOVE PEACE JOY
Julie x
this is absolutely and enjoyable post, thank you. I love the lace and tatting, the old lovely linens, the poetry on a hankie I have never heard of, so wonderful.
I was inspired to drop in from Ange's!
This is so cool.......thanks for sharing!!
Blessings.....
xoxo Gert
Hi Laura,
Your hankies are just wonderful!! What lovely treasures to have been past on to you!
Thank you so much for stopping by my blog, I am always so honored to have you visit!
Have a wonderful weekend.
Sincerely,
Melinda
How fabulous....love all the hankies, but especially the one with the typing. Cleaver ladies!! I've used vintage hankies to create pillows. If you want to save the typed one, think about using it for one side of a pillow ;-)
Cheers,
Cheryl
What a great treasure you have found there. Have a great weekend. Florence
THAT is one of the neatest little treasures I've seen. The fact that you know who the girls were is double sweet. Thanks for sharing!
That is fantastic... thank you for sharing with all of us!
Hope you have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend~
Michelle
In all my years of collecting, I have never run across a hanky like that! What a WONDERFUL keepsake!
~Holly
WOW!
Are you framing it?
xo
Andrea
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