The Big Sizzle
Flowers of all description are far and away the most popular image to be found on handkerchiefs. Thousands still exist, and are used and enjoyed daily. The ones that caught my eye and left me smiling however, were the gigantic flowers that seemed to have bloomed at Findhorn. Who carried these beauties? It had to be someone with the chutzpah of actress Rosalind Russell or the zip of a wise-cracking Eve Arden. These were classic “dames” in every sense of the word, who captured the silverscreen in the 1940s & 50s, and were as bold and colorful as these remarkable hankies.. Rosalind...
Read MoreNew Orleans
It’s no surprise that a city as diverse in culture, cuisine and citizenry requires multiple monikers to capture is magic. New Orleans is known by turns as “The Big Easy’, The Birthplace of Jazz”, “The Little Paris of the New World”, “Mardi Gras City” and “The City that Care Forgot”. The current favorite sobriquet? – “The Big Easy”. In the early 1900’s New Orleans had a dance hall named The Big Easy, but it wasn’t until 70 years later, when Betty Guillaud, columnist for the Times-Picayune used the term to compare New York (The Big Apple) to New Orleans (The Big Easy) that the name took...
Read MoreArtist’s View of New York
“London is satisfied, Paris is resigned, but New York is always hopeful. Always it believes that something good is about to come off, and it must hurry to meet it.” Dorothy Parker Just hearing the words New York conjures up more images than the mind can hold – from Wall Street to Park Avenue, Broadway to Central Park – the people, the pace, the passion – it’s all overwhelming. How could anyone attempt to capture the magic of the Big Apple in a simple handkerchief? Yet a select few have managed to portray the crackle and pop, the magnetism that is “the City”. Artists Carl Tait and Tammis...
Read MoreDon’t Cry Rudolph
Even if a lady rarely received a handkerchief for a gift, come Christmastime, every mother, sister, daughter, aunt, mother-in-law, teacher, tutor, and favorite friend could count on Santa gracing her stocking with a beautiful embroidered hankie, or if she were really lucky, a boxed set of hankies under the tree. A full page ad in The Saturday Evening Post, December 5, 1953, features a wreath of Irish Linen handkerchiefs – embroidered, monogrammed, and more. They made the recipient feel like a lady, feminine and cherished. (An ad on the reverse for the “Magnificent Magnavox high...
Read MoreButterflies
“Butterflies are self propelled flowers.” R. H. Heinlein Fall is here and it’s migration time for the magical Monarch butterfly to California’s Monterey Peninsula. They swarm in drove to frolic and flutter in the eucalyptus groves. This year’s count – 13,400. Yikes! It’s Match.com for Lepidopteras! They sojourn from October through February. You’re welcome to visit the grove and photograph all you like, but touching a butterfly carries a hefty $1,000 fine. Locals take their guardianship duties seriously, and children proudly parade in praise of these pumpkin colored wonders....
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