Ah, but one misses out on the practical activity of treading all the dusty or muddy trails! A great way to walk off a few pounds. Also, the venture of the hand and eye in discovering potential bargains has its own pleasure. In our region, most of the reproductive linen has catered more to the multitudes of Battenberg enthusiast than good old birdseye and other interesting weaves. Huck cloths aplenty, too. Kathleen ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lavolta Press" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Historical Costume" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, March 12, 2006 1:58 PM Subject: Re: [h-cost] Tea towels
> There are hundreds and hundreds of fancy (and not so fancy) vintage and > antique tablecloths, towels, tea towels, bedspreads, handkerchiefs, and > linens of all sorts on eBay. Embroidered, printed, crocheted, tatted, > fringed, woven, plaid, striped, plain, and everything you can think of. > You can buy them individually or as part of a big lot, and in > conditions ranging from perfect to awful. > > I was buying embroidered tablecloths to make into skirts for awhile, at > great prices, but after buying eight or so within a few days I gave up > browsing the textiles. There were just too many. But if you look under > Collectibles/Linens, Fabric and Textiles or Antiques, Textiles and > Linens (the latter are generally pricier items), you'll never have to > spend hours at a flea market again--just in front of your computer. > > I had the sense to do a search on "tea towels," after I posted. Irish > Linen tea towels appear to have been popular since the early 1970s, > judging by the fact that some are dated (because they're printed with > calendars for the year). There are scads on eBay, though most are > printed with very tacky designs. I didn't find any William Morris ones > (even though I've just worn out four in my kitchen, bought from museum > catalogs at different times). If anyone is interested, many of the > towels are listed on eBay for about $5, and they are very effective as > hand and dish towels. > > I got three printed with Book of Kells designs which are a bit bright > for my taste, but that will fade as they get beat up and washed every > week (the reason why I passed up all the vintage embroidered ones > listed--we use the towels heavily). Also one printed with a picture of > the Louvre (tea towels seem to be popular tourist items). > > Then someone on h-costume, whose message I accidentally deleted, kindly > sent me a link to the online store of the Country Dance and Song > Society, where you can buy the Book of Kells towels: > > http://www.cdss.org/sales/holiday.html > > But if anyone knows anywhere in the US to get more William Morris tea > towels (I did find some places in England), please let me know. > > Fran > Lavolta Press > http://www.lavoltapress.com > > Lloyd Mitchell wrote: > > Fran, the only time I have seen any that might be as you describe is at > > antique flea markets...such as Brimfield in Ma. > _______________________________________________ > h-costume mailing list > h-costume@mail.indra.com > http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume > _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
