My Big Mama Annie Lee never went to church without white gloves and a white handkerchief. I especially remember her gloves folded over her left hand and on her right arm, the pocketbook where she kept her handkerchief. In her day, a woman was not completely dressed unless she carried both.
I was at an auction last weekend that was selling vintage handkerchiefs similar to the ones my grandmother owned. There were two boxes of them – far apart from each other – and the hankies in the first box were simple, with tiny embroidered flowers and other details.
The boxes were in a large room where tables were crammed with women’s purses, shoes, scarves, belts and more. Dresses, mink and wool coats, and suits were hung on racks and against a wall. These clothes were not for everyone; I saw only one or two women in the place who could wear a size 4.
The hankies in the other box were bathed in colors and designs, mostly flowers and especially roses. All of the handkerchiefs were obviously made to be carried as accoutrements. I’m sure my grandmother used hers to dab a tear out of the corner of her eyes when the preacher’s sermon touched her soul, or pressed away a little sweat from her powdered forehead. I can imagine her only wiping or blowing her nose delicately.
If she had, she would’ve been doing exactly what this piece of fabric was originally made for. The earliest were white and used by those with money to tastefully blow their noses into (not like the commoners who would let go right into their sleeves). Then the hanky became an accessory for young women to give to their romantic male interests. Later, hankies came in various colors, materials and patterns.
They lost their allure in the 1930s when Kimberly-Clark started marketing its Kleenex tissue as a better and more sanitary way to blow. First manufactured in 1924, this new product was called Kleenex Kerchief, and was promoted as a cold cream and makeup remover.
Soon, Kleenex tissues began to replace handkerchiefs, and then wiped them into oblivion – except perhaps for those hardy few people who still prized them. Kimberly-Clark enlisted the comic strip character Little Lulu to be the advertising face for its tissues starting in 1943. One of Lulu’s books came with a pack of tissues.
Handkerchiefs are collectible, and can also easily be re-purposed, as noted in many websites on the subject. Single handkerchiefs were selling for $15 to $20 on one website, and much less on eBay where top prices went for large groupings of them. Some rare ones are much more valuable: A 1940 Superman handkerchief sold for $5,705 at auction two years ago.
Here are some of the hankies from the auction:
