Featured Opinions on the age of these handkerchiefs

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Thank you!

 

Joan,
I'm in total agreement! I believe you are right re: shams. They just didn't look right for handkerchiefs to me!

Leslie

 

These measure 12" square. Also I noticed a sheen to the fabric, possibly has a silk content.

 

Since these pieces are 12" square, then my guess is they had a wide border of material and possibly a lace edging. To determine the fiber content, you could cut off a small piece of the frayed material and do a burn test. Hold the piece to be tested with tweezers that you don't mind messing up, and hold it over a fire-proof dish or ashtray before holding a match to it. Carefully sniff the smoke -- cotton and linen both smell like burning paper, but cotton leaves a soft gray ash and linen leaves a soft black ash. Silk smells like burning hair or feathers and leaves a black soft bead. Finely-woven linen can have a soft sheen.