I'm so glad you've stopped by. I've recovered from my blue funk of the last week just in time! I've got some pretty pink handkerchiefs to show you for Pink Saturday, at How Sweet the Sound. I'm also joining the fun at Tam's The Gypsy's Corner, for 3 or More Tuesday. Thanks Beverly and Tam!
I hope you'll enjoy them!
I found these hankies in one of my Mom's drawers after she passed away. I had given most of them to her for Mother's day or for her birthday when I was a little girl.
Does anyone remember those flat boxes of three or four hankies that you could buy at Thrifty or Woolworth drug stores? I remember thinking they were so beautiful, all tied up with their little ribbons, and the pretty paper on the boxes. There was always a crinkly cellophane window in the box top, which allowed the contents to show. I loved that!
.With my limited income of a quarter a week allowance, I didn't have many options when it came time to buy a gift for my mom! We didn't have a lot of fancy stores in our town, and I knew I couldn't afford her favorite perfume (Chanel No. 5, or Ma Griffe). Jewelry was my Dad's domain - and he loved to spoil her with beautiful pieces. She really wasn't the type of Mom to actually wear a macaroni necklace, so to me the hankies were a way of giving her something that reflected her beauty. I didn't realize she had kept them all!
My daughters didn't even know what hankies were, until I explained to them.
I told them how my mother would put one in each of my sisters' and my own little patent leather purses, and how she would tie a quarter or a few dimes in the corner for our church offerings on Sunday.
I explained that women always carried hankies in their purses back when I was a girl, (sheesh, it wasn't that long ago!) and I tried to express the rush of feelings that came over me when I saw these again after such a long time. I don't think my daughters really understood, but they were sweet about it!
I've been reminiscing about my Mother a lot lately. She was pretty and fair, with light blond hair. Pink was one of her colors! It's bittersweet reliving moments from my past, and the memories of someone who meant so much to me. It's painful realizing she isn't here with me anymore.
I'm very sentimental about little things that used to be hers, like these hankies.
I'm going to tuck one of them into my purse, and I'll have a sweet reminder of my mother with me every day. It will be so nice to have something tangible, something I can touch, which, like my memories, will keep her close to me wherever I go.
Thanks for taking another trip down memory lane with me! Thanks to Beverly at How Sweet the Sound, for Pink Saturday. Thanks also to Tam at The Gypsy's Corner, for 3 or More Tuesday. When you get a chance go check out those sites, I promise you, you'll be glad you did!
I also want to mention a blog I recently discovered ( late to the game, again!). It's Mimi Charmante- go see it -it's beautiful! Mimi's having a drawing for a really lovely wrap that I think anyone would love and use often in the cooler weather. You need to enter by this Thursday, so hurry on over there, and let her know I sent you! (But please, don't win, because I want to!!)
Come back for another visit real soon.
Until next time
XO
Heidi
24 comments:
I remember these hankies. My grandma always had one handy in her bra to wipe a nose or a tear. What a nice way to remember your mom also. I lost my mom a long time ago. I still miss her and reading this post brought back memories of her. Thank you so much for bringing back some of the little things about her that I had "misplaced". I always remember opening her purse and everything smelled like teaberry gum. She loved that stuff!
Great pictures. How sweet that your Mum kept them all. I think hankies are becoming a thing of the past but there is nothing nicer than a handstitched one in your handbag. Thank you for sharing them with us this week. Have a Happy Pink Saturday :)
Oh my goodness, your hankies are beautiful. To tell you the truth I haven't bought some for a very long time but I didn't know there were no more in those little flat boxes. I still have many left but when I am in town I am going to see what there is left of my memories. And I also still always have one in my purse. LOL . Thank you for sharing an have a happy pink Saturday
Such a sweet post, Heidi, and what a nice way to remember your mom by bringing back the old tradition of carrying a hankerchief. I do remember the pretty boxes at our Woolworth's and admiring them. My mom always had a hanky ready to swipe at our noses. Of course the Kleenex company changed that, but my dad still carries one!!
Thanks for the memories, Heidi!
xoxo
Jane
Oh Heidi..The sweet loving memories you have are so special..and you can share them with your daughters.
Happy pinks to you! xo Tami
Your wonderful hankie post brings tears to my eyes. I still have the hankies from my Mom and my Godmother and some from my GM too. I keep them in a large basket displayed 24/7. So many tears and happy moments in those hankies. When my daughter was married everyone was given a new hankie at the ceremony with a little saying for tears of joy. Now who could forget Woolworths. I remember them selling Evening In Paris in those little blue bottles. I thought they were the most sophisticated perfume bottles in all the world ...well, in my little town as I was not worldly in those days and not sure I am so worldly now:) Thanks for the trip down a PINK memory lane today.
Joyce
I remember those hankies too! I used to get a quarter a week myself for an allowance. I was glad when I started babysitting because I got a quarter an hour then! Thanks for sharing and Happy Pink Saturday.
Blessings,
Sandi
They are beautiful. I know the enormous sadness you feel, but your words tell me your mother left you with wonderful memories. Cherish them. Have a great Pink Saturday.
Those were the good old days weren't they. I too remember beautiful hankies, esp when it came time for grandma's birthday or an aunts birthday.......you could always depend on and find pretty hankies to give away. I miss that, Happy Pink Saturday, Char
I love that you have the hankies your mother saved! Treasures true! Have a great pink Saturday and be sure to come visit!
As usual, I am not disappointed with all of the pink goodies I get to see on Pink Saturday. With fall in the air and the days getting shorter, Pink Saturday is going to be more important than ever to bring a little sunshine into my home.
Your post this week was extra special!
Wishing you a weekend filled with good food, good company and much l♥ve.
Pretty hankies!!!
Happy Pink Saturday.
Such sweet hankies and sweet remembrances of your mother. Thanks so much for sharing them and a bit of her with us....
Such sweet treasures you have with the hankies..and like you,I have those sweet memories. Happy pinks and thank you for sharing your memories with us.
Oh Heidi, what a wonderful memory you shared with us, thank you!
Please stop by my blog-I'm doing a giveaway until Friday, Oct. 23rd. Hugs, Leslie
Hi Heidi :)
This was such a wonderful post. I have the same kind of memory, but it's actually of my grandfathers that carried them. It's strange to me that men don't use them anymore.
Thank you for the sweet compliment about our kitchen :)
rue
My goodness what a beautiful post. I love that you found those hankies and how sweet that she kept them all. My mother still has a jewelry box I bought her at Woolworth's with my allowance when I was about 6 or 7. It has the ballerina inside and plays Dr. Zhivago's "Laura's Theme." Those memories are so special. Thank you so much for sharing such a lovely story. -April
Beautiful pictures to go with beautiful words. Best wishes, NM.
You have struck gold with these sweet hankies! I love the polka dot one.That is a real beauty. Shame we only use Kleenex hankies these days.
My grandmother was the hankie user in my family. We gave them to her on every occasion--from the "dime stores", too! I think I even embroidered (very crudely!) her initials on a set once. Besides her hankies, she had a collection of soft head scarves that she used to "tie up her head" to keep her hair smooth, too. What a stroll down memory lane these things invite!
Heidi,
This was a lovely post and has touched a nerve with all of us I think.
Like Joyce I remember buying my Mum the tiny blue blottles of Evening in Paris and those elegant, to my little girl eyes, gift boxes containing 3 hankies.
A trip to nostalgia is a good thing now & then.
Maggie
Heidi, I have a suggestion for you.
I do genealogy research and deal with family mementos and photos regularly.
You should copy what you have written here and then place it in an acid free box with a hanky for each of you children with their names on each box. They may have just grinned and smiled when you told them about the hankies but one day they or maybe their children will look in the box and this story will be as precious to them as it is to you. Without the story they will just be some old hankies.
Heidi: I'm even more in love with my giveaway wins than the minute I opened your wonderful gifts. On Thursday I will be linking to you via Tablescape Thursday and then on Monday again for Metamorphosis Monday when I show my dining room redo.
The book has helped tremendously for ideas.
Huge thank you for having such a generous giveaway.
Oh, I remember these hankies being tucked into my Sunday School purse, or -- in the winter time -- into my fur muff that I carried to church. Remember fur muffs? Rabbit fur, soft white --I thought I was just the coolest kid, with a rabbit fur muff to keep my hands warm, and my hankie and offering money safe!
My mom always insisted we carry TWO hankies -- one for "show" and one for "blow" -- just in case, heaven forbid, we actually had to USE one of the pressed and carefully folded handkerchiefs.
Ah... it was different then.
I liked it.
Thanks for a heartfelt and charming post. I am thinking of my Mom a lot now, too -- she is 88 and in end stage Alzheimer's. She was always so perfectly groomed, with a spotless house -- she worked so hard all her life, and loved it all.
Thanks! Best wishes, Cass
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