Handkerchiefs

Most of us remember our grandma's pocket hankies as dainty little squares of cotton with colored crocheted trim. Nothing could be further from an 1860s handkerchief!

Both ladies' and gentlemen's handkerchiefs of the 1860s were quite large - averaging between 10" X 10" and 20" X 20" with the usual size about 15" square. The materials used ranged from plain cotton for children, poor people and blue collar attire, to fine silk, linen or cotton with extremely expensive lace edging. A cheap cotton hanky was a few cents. An expensive fashion hanky could be as much as $50 (hundreds of dollars in modern currency).

Gentlemen carried colors from plain white to solid colors or gaudy printed images - political campaign handkerchiefs, for instance. Ladies generally carried white hankies, though they did occasionally use color in the embroidered edges and monograms.

Handkerchiefs could be handmade or bought ready-made. Godey's Lady's Book in 1864 stated, "In pocket handkerchiefs there are a great many pretty and inexpensive styles. Some have a tiny scallop on the edge, entirely filled in with a dot of the same color as the scallop, and in one corner some pretty design on the initial, worked in colors. When the handkerchief is bought ready worked, but one initial is on it, but when worked to order, several initials may be very prettily interlaced.

Linen and Lace Handkerchief ca. 1860 13 3/4" x W. 13 1/2"
Metropolitan Museum of Art

"Another pretty style had two ruffles of cambric figured in colors, the edge whipped over with the color on cambric. These ruffles were simply fluted at the corners, and at the sides were entirely plain. The shapes were square, with rounded corners. The prettiest style for gentlemen has the national flag embroidered in colors in one corner or two flags crossed. Frequently, when handkerchiefs are embroidered to order, the initials are interwoven with flowers and figures, and form an entire bordering for the handkerchief."

Fashion magazines frequently had instructions and patterns for handkerchief edges and monograms. Here, for example, are four designs for initials in Godey's 1860 edition.

Monogram patterns in Godey's Lady's Book 1860

Though we think of hankies in utilitarian uses such as wiping your nose or eyes, fashion hankies were never used for such a purpose. Godey's Lady's Book in 1861 had a somewhat humorous note about the uselessness of fashion hankies. "In our own country, as we all know to our cost, these articles are not only useful, but highly necessary, and accordingly our shops and warehouses teem with every variety of them, from the moral and instructive pocket-handkerchief of the national scholar, price two cents, to the $25 handkerchief of the lady of fashion, a mere mass of cobweby lace, of no use to anybody in particular, not even to the owner….

"Three square inches of transparent cambric, edged by a border of lace about six inches in depth, constitutes this adornment, and is really extremely pretty, although utterly devoid of use. And this leads one to remark upon the tendency of nineteenth-century dress in general, the redundancy of ornament, and the unfitness for anything like use, that characterizes our luxurious age. 

La Mode Illustree, 1861

"Crinoline in a ball-room, or on a street pavement, or in a carriage, may be pretty and becoming enough; but crinoline in a sick room would rustle horribly, crinoline stirring a sauce-pan would probably set itself on fire, crinoline nursing a baby would be incommodious to the nursling – but no means a bed of roses, but more like an ingenious instrument of torture. The same observation will apply to the large sleeves still in fashion; they are graceful, and generally becoming; but they blot letters and throw down glasses, sweeping off everything that comes in their way, when the arm of the wearer is stretched out to perform any useful office. And thus it is with pocket-handkerchiefs; Fashion decrees that they shall be pretty and expensive, but of no use whatever."

But hankies were not to be taken lightly by the lady of fashion. Godey's in 1860 warned women that, "In our days, dress as well as cookery, has become a science, as much as an art; even the minutiae of a lady’s dress, such as the purse, pocket-handkerchief, etc., are now objects of care and labor."

In 1840 "The Workwoman's Guide" offered a comprehensive description of handkerchiefs that remained accurate in the 1860s as well.

POCKET HANDKERCHIEFS
"These are made of French cambric, fine lawn, Scotch cambric, cotton, or silk; the former are chiefly worn by ladies, and the latter by gentlemen; lawn and Scotch cambric are used by young persons and children; cotton handkerchiefs are confined to the working classes.

Linen Handkerchief ca. 1860. 15" X 15".

Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

"Ladies' pocket handkerchiefs are usually eleven or twelve nails square; they are purchased woven on purpose with borders. Sometimes very fine cambric may be procured eleven nails wide, which many persons prefer to the bordered handkerchiefs; these are often made with broad hems, half or three quarters of a nail deep, and a row of open veining worked at the bottom of the hem, or a narrow edging of lace is sewed all around.

"Cambric handkerchiefs for gentlemen are larger than those for ladies, say fourteen or fifteen nails.

"Gentlemen’s silk handkerchiefs should be of India silk, and are about 5s. 6d. Each; they are far preferable to British silk, as they are much softer, and keep the dye to the very last. British silk handkerchiefs should be dipped in gall the first time they are washed. Printed cotton handkerchiefs, for poor children, may be bought at a penny and even a halfpenny each." (Note that a nail is 2.25")

Uses For Handkerchiefs

Everyone carried a handkerchief, and a sign of a thoughtless child was often the fact that he or she lost their handkerchief. The uses for hankies were amazingly varied. Even the "useless" fashion hankies had a number of functions in society. As we gathered information for this article, we started keeping a list of all the ways hankies were utilized in the 1860s. There are probably more, but here's a start:

S. Shattuck, Untitled, before 1865. Photograph.
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Fashion accessory - Both ladies and gentlemen in society could and did judge your appearance by the style and state of your hanky.
Washing and wiping - Noses, sweaty faces, cleaning dirt off hands, etc.
Tourniquet or bandage - Both medical advice and romantic stories included descriptions of how to use a hanky to bandage wounds.
Carrying items - Hankies were frequently used to carry things - pile your lunch in it at a picnic, gather a heap of small objects to move them, etc.
Health remedy - Hankies were often drenched with healing oils or scents for an invalid. Hankies across the face were also believed to help ward off such supposed airborne illnesses as malaria.
Perfume - Both ladies and gentlemen frequently perfumed their hankies.
Smoke inhalation guard - Instructions were given to cover the face with a hanky in the event of a house fire.
Stifling bad manners - Stuffing a hanky in your mouth to keep from laughing at inappropriate times (such as in church) was standard procedure. If you couldn't control your giggles, chew on a hanky!
Public salute - Instead of (or in addition to) cheering or clapping, waving a hanky was a way of giving public accolades.
Call for attention - Used to wave someone down or get their notice.

Emily Mary Coleman
Minnesota Historical Society

Turban - An easy way to cover your hair when doing housework.
Games - Since everybody had a hanky, it was a useful object for all kinds of fun games.

Handkerchief Receptacles

Since handkerchiefs were so ubiquitous, everyone could use a good way to store them and carry them. The easiest way to carry one was of course, in your pocket. Photographs show both ladies and gentlemen showing off a nice hanky by letting the edge peek out of a pocket.

But fashion magazines also included a number of styles of small flat purses worn at the belt in which to store a hanky (and possibly a small coin purse). These could be made of silk, velvet or fine leather and were generally highly ornamented. The fancy title for them was an "aumoniere."

When not in use, clean hankies were often stored in special boxes. A nice store-bought box could be used - and some were expensive and highly ornamented. A hanky box could also be made though, and the fashion magazines included instructions for such little trinkets.

Instructions for making a glove or hanky box
Godey's Lady's Book 1860

When traveling, a hard box might be impractical to pack so other containers such as a handkerchief envelope became popular. In 1862, Godey's had a picture and a set of instructions for making one.

HANDKERCHIEF ENVELOPE.

"These handkerchief sachets are extremely useful, especially in travelling or paying short visits from home. They are also very inexpensive, and easily made, and form pretty and useful presents from young ladies to their friends, besides being well suited for contributions to fancy fairs and charitable bazaars. The material of which the handkerchief envelope is made is white pique, braided with any ingrain color, and worked down with wool drawn out of lengths cut from the same. In commencing, pass the end of the braid through a stiletto hole, fasten it down at the back, and finish with it in the same way. Although our design is in two parts, the whole of the envelope must be cut in one piece, the ends being left square and sufficiently long to meet in the middle, when, being sewn up, the points of the envelope lay over, and, being fastened with a button, the join is covered. The edge is finished with a strong buttonhole-stitch in the same wool." 

Handkerchief Envelope, Godey's Lady's Book 1862

Handkerchief Mementos

Handkerchiefs were not only a personal item, they were often seen by the public around you so they were perfect for making a statement or supplying a special memento.

There are numbers of pictures of soldiers going off to war with their sweetheart's handkerchief prominently sticking out from a pocket or draped over a shoulder. Hankies have been preserved that were found clutched in a dead fighter's hands, his last link with his lady. A hanky, often-handstitched, scented and carried by his lover, was a personal and sentimental gift prized by the gentlemen.

Lincoln Mourning Handkerchief dated 1865 11" X 11"

Seen on Heritage Auctions.

Handkerchiefs could carry a more explicit message as well. When Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, numbers of hankies were made to mourn his passing. Mourning handkerchiefs (all black or edged with black) were typically reserved only for immediate family of the deceased. But Lincoln's death affected the nation so strongly that the reservation for family-only was temporarily put aside.

People in mourning were not required to carry black or even black-edged handkerchiefs. Black dyes of the 1860s were "fugitive" (meaning they were not set and could run) so using a black hanky risked leaving a dark smear on your face or clothes. Though mourning hankies certainly existed, most "Victorian" mourning hankies seen online and in collections are from the later 1800s.

Mary Todd Lincoln's Cotton Handkerchief 11" X 11"

Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection

Handkerchiefs remained a favored memento or remembrance and are found in many collections and museums. Though at first they may seem uninteresting, there are fascinating details that can be gleaned from a simple hanky. Mary Todd Lincoln's hanky, for example, gives us a perfect illustration of a simple, useful, non-fashion hanky. Though the edges and monogram are nicely stitched, the hanky is clearly meant for everyday use, rather than a fashion statement.

Handkerchief Games

There were many simple parlor games popular in the 1860s that only used a handkerchief. Blind Man's Bluff, for example, is basically a game of tag where the person who is "It" is blindfolded with a hanky and must find other people by feeling for them.

When a reenactor wishes to involve the public, especially children, handkerchief games can be an easy option. Godey's Lady's Book in 1861 gave instructions for a slightly more complicated handkerchief game, resembling "Simon Says."

THE RULE OF CONTRARY.

Harriet Lane by Matthew Brady

The rules of this game are not intricate. All the players standing up, take hold of the sides of a handkerchief. The president of the game (taking hold with the rest) makes mystic circles on the handkerchief with his fore-finger, exclaiming –

“Here we go round by the rule of contrary; when I say ‘Hold fast,’ let go; when I say ‘Let go,’ hold fast.”

He then says “Let go,” or “Hold fast,” as he may seem inclined. When he says “Let go,” those who do not hold fast pays forfeits; when he says “Hold fast,” all who do not immediately let go are punished in like manner.

It may be thought by those who have never attempted the game, that few victims are to be caught by so simple a contrivance. We advise all harboring such opinions, to try it at the earliest opportunity.

Handkerchiefs were a necessary and important item in every person's life in the 1860s. Rich and poor, children and adults, ladies and gentlemen, all carried them in every type of situation. No reenactor's ensemble should be complete without this item!