Red Bandana
THE RED BANDANA One Sunday morning in 1984, a young boy of seven named Welles Crowther, having been gifted with his very first suit, enlisted help from his dad to tie his necktie. As his father knelt before him, the boy noticed a crisply folded pocket square in his father’s breast pocket and asked “What’s that? Can I have one of those?” In response, his father retreated to his bedroom and returned with two hankies. The white one he carefully folded and tucked in his son’s breast pocket, explaining it was “for show.” The second hankie, a crimson bandana, was “for blow” said his dad, to be...
Read MoreLove and Marriage
For some, true love is their heart’s desire, the prize they seek. For others, romance is merely a prelude to the main event – marriage! The ultimate, nonpareil, pinnacle of achievement. Hmmmm. With success rates hovering at 48% for first marriages, 33% for second marriages and a grim 27% for third marriages, one wonders about those convinced they can beat the odds. Perhaps they’re just incurable romantics. These handkerchiefs reflect the era when marriage was considered the zenith, the ultimate victory in the world of love. Yet, the artists are well aware that romance, for some, is akin to...
Read MoreRoad to Romance
So many flirtations, assignations, and secret trysts have commenced with the flutter of a handkerchief, it’s no surprise that hundreds of hankies carry images of amour. Naturally roses and romance go hand in hand, with many a suitor gifting everything from hand embroidered bouquets To dazzling displays of bonbons bursting from a bevy of blossoms. An elaborately draped blackamoor displays a stunning bouquet sent by a suitor with the card “see you tonight.” His boutonniere matches the bouquet, providing a subtle reminder throughout the evening of his adoration. Our...
Read MoreAnimal Magnetism
For the cynic who says love is for the birds – you’re absolutely right! In this hankie everyone from the cuckoo to the dodo, the parrot to the nighthawk have something to squawk about, while an ermine robed Queen Bee holds court center stage. I doubt this hankie will satiate an endlessly inquisitive child, but then, the birds and bees chestnut has always been mostly an escape hatch for flustered parents, leaving kids more baffled and befuddled than before. “Birds do it, bees do it, even educated fleas do it. Let’s do it; let’s fall in love.” Let’s Fall in Love, 1933 by Harold Arlen and...
Read MoreThe Music of Romance
From stolen kisses to secret rendezvous, scenarios are endless when it comes to matters of the heart, yet all seem to share one common denominator – the power of music to express the inexpressible, to enfold the heart and move the soul. Victor Hugo opined “Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent.” Music can transport us to either the apex of joy or nadir of despair like nothing else can. It moves both body and soul, compelling us to literally dance with joy when we’re in love. The 1935 musical “Top Hat” encourages one to “do the Piccolino with...
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