Grandma's Embroidered Kitchen Towels



 

I attended Thomas Jones' GRIP (Genealogical Institute of Pittsburgh) class last week titled, "Mastering the Art of Genealogical Documentation." Normally the classes are held at La Roche University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania but due to Covid the past 2 institutes have been virtual. The classes started at 9:30AM east coast time which meant 6:30AM west coast time. It was tough getting up each morning to be at my computer by 6:30AM.

The course was how to write citations and the logic behind the process. This is an area I have really struggled with and needed to take this course. The beginning of the week the classes kicked my butt. There were sections that I literally struggled with. The homework each night focused on the different parts of the citation we learned during the day. Getting through all of the examples was difficult by the time my brain turned to mush and was telling me I needed to sleep. I would at least get through three or four of the exercises. As much as I don't want to admit it, the exercises were necessary. The amount of information we covered was crazy but in the end a great learning experience. 

By know you're wondering about the title of this blog post and what does it have to do with attending GRIP. Well, let me explain. On Friday morning the V E R Y last exercise we did was to write a citation for "Grammaw's Kitchen Towel." We were to pretend we had a kitchen towel from our grandmother. Well I didn't need to pretend because I did have a towel. In fact I have five. The lightbulb went off in my head and I decided I needed to take my towels out of the kitchen, take photos of them, and pack them away for safe keeping. One of the towels I have used over the years and is a bit worn. 

Grandma use to belong to an organization that held a bazaar each year to raise money for a non-profit. She embroidered what is referred to as "flour sack towels or tea towels." I always made sure I bought at least one. I have used them over the years and some became rags as they became very worn. Below are photos of the 5 towels that I have. I don't have many items from my grandmother and I'm so glad I have these. Of course my favorite are the cocker spaniels since they remind me of my little girl, Alexandria. 

For a little history of four sack towels check out the wikipedia link below. In the middle of the 19th century women would save the bag that flour came in and embroider them and use as kitchen towels, or make clothing for their children. 1 





1. Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flour_sack), "Flour sack," accessed 08:15PM, 18 July 2021.


Copyright © 2021 by Jacqueline Threet Henderson, Jacqueline's Jaunts. All rights reserved.

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