Hanging Vintage Hankies

Many years ago I started collecting vintage hankies. It started when I found a poinsettia Christmas hankie in my mother’s things after she died. I remembered her carrying it. Soon after I was wandering around an antique mall and found another one, and why have one when you can have two…or three or… They were easy to store, inexpensive, and fun to look for when out and about because you didn’t find them that often. Then Ebay came along and they were too easy to find and there were too many collectors driving up the prices so I stopped collecting. But meanwhile I have a very large collection of hankies. Some are so pretty that I decided to frame them, some permanently, and some that are changed out from time to time. I bought a few large and small frames that I use over and over and the background is heavy white paper. This one is a larger Valentine hankie and it is on the wall in the guest room year round but I have some that I swap out for different holidays and seasons. I really love the graphics on this one and the red and blue color combination. I also use hankies as table top decorations sometimes.

I used to hang this one during the Fall season sometimes. I also have a large collection of hankies that are shaped like different leaves in different colors and sometimes I put one of those up as well. Some of these hankies are a bit crooked but I didn’t take the time to straighten them. Some are an odd shape anyway and can’t be straightened!

For a while years ago I hung my hankies as a valance over my kitchen window changing them depending on the season or holiday. I put these up every fall for a few years until we remodeled the kitchen.

Not a great photo but the only one I could find of these hankies. I have about 100 different poinsettia hankies. My mother loved poinsettias and these remind me of her whenever I see them.

This is a large frame with just a heavy white paper background and I swap out hankies depending on the season or holiday. I put this one up at Christmas time. It is one of my favorites.

This is a smaller hankie that was sold by McCalls magazine apparently. It hangs in my guest room at Christmas time because the tree in there always has a gingerbread and candy theme. I used a red frame for this one.

This one is another Christmas favorite that hangs in the hall during the holidays.

I have several California Souvenir hankies and I have framed a couple for our bedroom. I love the colorful graphics.

You can still find vintage hankies on Ebay and in antique malls although some of the best designs have been snatched up by collectors over the years. When I was buying them they were each a dollar or two but now some of the most prized and unusual ones can cost $20 to $30 and up because there are so few of them left.

I have just started a Facebook Group, Vintage Hankies, Handkerchiefs, https://www.facebook.com/groups/897980928627111 to share photos of my hankies. I am hoping that others will join and share their hankies too!