Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Handkerchiefs

My mom recently brought over a stack of handkerchiefs for my girls to play with and for me to use.  We are fans of handkerchiefs at our house.  I always have one in my purse because you just never know when you might need to dab your eyes or nose.  They are so much softer than tissues and I love the sentimental value of them as well.  When my mom graduated high school, she and her family lived in Okinawa.  Since she planned to move back to the States to attend college, a bunch of my mom's friends threw her a farewell party at which everyone brought a handkerchief as a going away gift.  That's where the bulk of our hanky collection came from.

My grandmother gave me a beautiful white handkerchief with delicate white embroidery to use on my wedding day nearly eleven years ago.  I wrapped the hanky around the base of my bouquet, and carried it with with me down the aisle.  It was a small, yet very special part of my big day.

Hannah and Leah love handkerchiefs too.  I think they like the dainty, feminine, frilly quality of them.  And for some reason, they go crazy playing with them.  The handkerchiefs become blankets for stuffed animals or a dress for a doll.  And lately Leah has been calling one of her favorite handkerchiefs a ghost.  The ghost hanky follows her around and is "friendly like Casper," according to my Bee.

Do you use handkerchiefs?  Do you have any with sentimental value?

4 comments:

affectioknit said...

So pretty - I like the idea of handkerchiefs but I rarely actually use them...

Anonymous said...

While I don't use handkerchiefs I have two that are very special. I also had one from my grandmother, that was carried by my great-grandmother at my parents' wedding. I tied it around my bouquet. The other was my (other) grandmother's that I carried at her funeral. My living grandmother(obviously) makes handkerchiefs into baby bonnets and gives them to each great-grandchild. While we didn't put it on Micaiah we are saving it because tradition says you give it to his bride on his wedding (or to her on her wedding if you have a girl).

k_stin said...

I got handkerchiefs this summer while i was in Japan and I started using them like the Japanese, wiping my hands after washing them in public bathrooms. Nice way to dry hands without touching other people's germs. I also like them for those sweaty, Oklahoma days. Love them!

Heather said...

I am an avid hoarder of hankies! Every time I see one in a vintage shop I can almost imagine who the little lady was that carried it. I'm almost certain that each and everyone has a story and although I don't know what it is, it makes them special to me!