Seventh Day Chauvinist
Spoiler Alert – if you consider yourself even remotely feminist or if you were born sometime in the last 50 years, continue reading only if you’re willing to have your hair burst into flames. With all apologies to Gloria Steinem, I had to share the following group of hankies. Oftentimes handkerchiefs came in sets of seven, one for each day of the week. Children’s handkerchiefs in particular often contained a lesson for the day, or inspirational reminders. On this cover (and on the hankies inside) the little girl is cooking, sewing, washing, sweeping, ironing and going to church. She’s...
Read MoreDiet
You can’t watch tv or listen to the radio the first few weeks in January without being deluged with diet programs of every kind. The tv show Biggest Loser promises to return “Bigger and Bolder” than ever – perhaps not the best choice of adjectives for a show on dieting. Even Jane Fonda has resurfaced in leotard and headband to teach AM/PM yoga. Yep, you can work out with her morning and night! Whether you planned to get into shape or not, you may be shamed into doing so. Calorie counting is nothing new, as these 1940’s and 50’s hankies will attest, although methinks they did it with a...
Read MoreThe Handkerchief Flirt
“Flirting is a woman’s trade. One must keep in practice.” Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë Recently, I attended a graduation at Stanford as a guest, and found myself immersed in a throng of families, friends and parents of graduates at a reception. Many were alumni, and related tales of “when I went here…” or bemoaned the changes that inevitably come with time. One remark that caught my attention came from a grandfather with whom I’d been speaking earlier. Apparently he had met his sweetheart at college and later proposed at a landmark on the campus. “Kids today” he sighed, “have lost the art...
Read MoreThe Accidental Collector
The reasons for collecting are as varied as the collectors themselves. Some folks are accidental collectors – they inherited Aunt Ruthie’s depression glass or Uncle Bill’s antique pen collection. For others, a hobby becomes a passion. I know an executive with a museum quality collection of toy soldiers. “My collecting” he explained, “was accidental. I was sick as a child, and had to entertain myself while spending months in bed.” He used to keep his soldiers in shoeboxes under his bed. They now occupy an entire wall of custom built glass shelves in his office. He has hundreds of...
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