What can handkerchiefs tell us about attitudes through the ages?
The simple handkerchief has become a desirable collectible for many collectors, particularly those interested in the history of fashion and textiles.
In fact, the handkerchief has played such an important role in history, there are
experts in this field called Handkerchief Historians, such as Ann Mahony, a member of the Textile Arts
Council at San Francisco’s de Young Museum. Her own personal collection amounts to more
than 5,000 American vintage handkerchiefs, ranging from 70 to 100 years old. She believes
you can tell a lot from handkerchiefs and the people who owned them:
"Handkerchiefs tell the tenor of the time, the mood of the country, what people were
thinking and focused on. Handkerchiefs are really a record of history."
Vintage collectible American handkerchiefs differ greatly from the fine lace and delicately
embroidered handkerchiefs of the royal courts of Europe through the ages. American
handkerchiefs are colourful and vibrant, affordable items that almost everyone everywhere
carried with them by the 20th century. They were often given as gifts or keepsakes and were
both functional and fashionable.
Handkerchief Historian Helen Gustafson writes in her book, Hanky Panky: An Intimate
History of the Handkerchief that handkerchiefs had many functions beyond the practical use
of wiping your brow or blowing your nose. They were also promotional, instructional and
educational. There were commemorative hankies during presidential campaigns and
promotional hankies advertising businesses such as the Arthur Murray dance school.
In Ann Mahony’s personal collection, you can find handkerchiefs featuring calendars;
astrology guides; how-tos on palmistry and graphology; card game rules; travel-related
guidelines on customs and tariffs; currency exchange rates; foreign language phrases;
dance steps; weight-loss and fitness exercise routines; housekeeping tips; flora and fauna
identification; calorie counts; and food and cocktail recipes.
By the 1980s, the disposable tissue in its handy pop-up box replaced the fashionable
handkerchief. Function overtook fashion and Kleenex was considered the more hygienic
necessity.
No one can say for sure when humans started carrying around handkerchiefs, but we can
track its history starting from the Chou dynasty 1000 BC through the later part of the Middle
Ages to the Renaissance and modern industrial times of the 20th century. Every culture
through every age has used a handkerchief in one form or another.
Dr. Margarete Braun-Ronsdorf writes extensively in her book, The History of the
Handkerchief, tracing its lineage through literature, art and printed records, such as
household inventories of the royal courts. She notes that the first mention of a handkerchief
is by the Roman poet Catullus (84 – c. 54 BC), who identified the object as a ‘sudarium’ from
the Latin word to sweat. But in Roman times, the handkerchief was used for more than just
wiping your brow. It was also used to shield or veil the face and mouth from the hot
Mediterranean sun. A sudarium was a simple, square piece of cloth worn by Roman military
officers as a neckerchief.
Handkerchiefs were made of linen or silk, expensive fabrics sourced from the Middle East
and Asia that only the rich could afford at the time. As linen became more readily available
through the second and third centuries A.D., handkerchiefs became more popular with the
masses and took on new uses such as cleaning, dressing wounds and wiping your fingers
when eating. Henry II was known to use his hankie to clean his teeth.
As its uses grew and changed, so too did the name of the handkerchief. Making a comeback
as a functional item of the royal courts in 14th century France, the handkerchief got the
name of ‘Pleuvoir’, referring to the French word verb, ‘to cry’. It was later referred to as a
‘Mouchoir’, something to wipe the mouth. In England at the end of the century, the
handkerchief was given the elegant name of ‘Muckinder or Muckinger’. These names point
directly to the handkerchief’s utilitarian purpose at the time.
The name ‘handkerchief’ didn't come into use until the mid-16th century, when it evolved
from a head covering in the Middle Ages to something you carry around in your pocket. The
word ‘kerchief’ comes from the French word for cover (‘couvrir’) and head (‘chef’). The name
‘handkerchief’ is attributed to King Richard II of England (1377–1399).
In 1460, the handkerchief enjoyed a reincarnation as a richly decorated item, often
embroidered in coloured silk and silver and gold thread. You could pay as much as 1000
francs. So valued were these handkerchiefs that they were often gifted as part of a woman’s
dowry, listed in inventories and bequeathed to loved ones. In 1594, Henry IV gave two
handkerchiefs to his mistress Gabrielle d'Estrées that were so valuable he asked for them
back when she died five years later.
By the sixteenth century, Italy became the fashion centre for fine embroidery and lace. Their
handkerchiefs were highly sought after, as delicate works of art. Handkerchiefs grew in size
and adornment, with added borders of fine lace from Venice and exquisite embroidery from
Lombardy and the finest fabrics imported from all over the Continent and the Far East. No
woman (or man) was seen in public without a handkerchief.
During this time, Italian perfumers settled into France and the scented handkerchief became
the height of fashion. This trend caught on in England under the reign of Queen Elizabeth I,
who loved scented, embroidered handkerchiefs. They were often gifted with sweet bags
worn around the wrist and adorned with coloured silk and silver and gold thread.
A romantic air grew around handkerchiefs and a whole language of love developed. How
you held your handkerchief, in which hand, and which side of the face all had different
meanings. A dropped handkerchief was seen as an invitation to date. Maidens would give
their love interest a small handkerchief with French tassels sewn at the corners,
embroidered with love knots and names, as a token of their love.
Handkerchiefs became a symbol of wealth, status and class: the larger, the better. In Paris
during the reign of King Louis XVI (1774–92), no one was allowed to carry a bigger
handkerchief than the Bourbon monarch. His handkerchiefs were said to be as big as 16
inches square. It was a time when highly decorated handkerchiefs were becoming more
popular with fashionable men.
As fashions changed in the 19th century, the pocket square was born and worn with a suit as
a sign of success and distinction. When the mass-produced cloth and cotton handkerchiefs
of the industrial revolution flooded the market, the rich silk and linen handkerchiefs of
yesteryear disappeared and once again gave way to function and utility.
As fashion trends go, the handkerchief has played an important role in giving us a glimpse
into the history of different cultures, both ancient and modern, across all parts of the world.
From the Chou dynasty 1000 BC to the 14th century French aristocracy and the courts of
17th century Italy, the handkerchief has featured in every race, culture and religion since the
era of fabrics and textiles. A significant moment in the textile trade, the production and
design of handkerchiefs mark a time in history both practical and fashionable, and adds to
their value as a highly sought-after collectible.