Solve, create, share and talk about jigsaw puzzles

"The Language of Handkerchiefs & Fans" by Sharon House

Bookmarked Bookmark Solve this jigsaw puzzle later
ShareShare with your friends
ReportReport as inappropriate
80
14
Solve puzzle
80 pieces
14 solves
Solve puzzle

Thanks for sharing. Here is your html-code:

Why are you reporting this puzzle?

A wonderful bit of trivia, that you may never have heard of.


In Oliver Twist, why do they steal handkerchiefs?

Handkerchiefs were the smartphones of Victorian London. You had to have them in order to communicate privately. In an era when women could not openly express their feelings in public, handkerchiefs were a kind of code. And like people today texting at a concert or a party, the Victorians used handkerchiefs at a distance. Across a room. Even across a theater with hundreds of people between you and the person you were interacting with.

Men often carried small binoculars or opera glasses so as to see these signals in a public place. And other people of course tried to intercept them.

Passing a handkerchief across your eyes meant I’m sorry.
Folding it meant We must talk.
Dropping it meant We will be friends. I want to get acquainted with you.
Winding it around a forefinger meant I am engaged to another person, please keep your distance.
Holding the opposite corners in your two hands meant Wait for me.
Draping it on your shoulder momentarily meant Follow me.
Touching your forehead with it meant Be careful, we’re being watched.
And there were dozens of other signals.

People gave handkerchiefs as gifts. Wealthy ladies gave them away by the dozens. Royalty by the hundreds. Silk, linen, sometimes embroidered. And handkerchiefs were embellished by their owners. In an age when most women sewed, it was common to “unpick” embroidery and re-embroider them with your own imagery or initials or edges or other stuff.

The simplest of all signals was to drop your handkerchief in a way that allowed the person you wished to speak with an excuse to pick it up and return it to you. The skirts and hoops were such that you could not bend down to pick it up yourself.

Stories were published in installments in the magazines of the day, so a few pages away from the serialized episode of a Dickens novel there would have been stories of love and attraction and how they were expressed. Readers not of the opera or theatergoing class bought handkerchiefs too, and carried and used them at their dances and social gatherings.

Good quality ones were expensive. And so they were stolen and sold. Often by pickpockets, like today’s iPhones.

People today sometimes think that the people of the past were not just as worried about sexual matters and anxious over their own love lives as we are. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I have two handkerchief boxes owned by my ancestresses. They were traditionally papier-mâché and held the small handkerchiefs of the period. In the eighteenth century these were small—maybe only 3 or 4 inches square, with a button sewn in each corner. By the Victorian era they had become a little larger and lost the buttons. And the edges were often embroidered. A lady might easily tuck one in her sleeve.

Source:
The Language of Handkerchiefs & Fans by Sharon House
Why this advertisement?

Comments

Please sign in to comment. Don't have a profile? Join now! Joining is absolutely free and no personal information is required.

Sharon72

I have my mother's and my grandmother's delicate old handkerchiefs. I have a friend who stitched together vintage and antique handkerchiefs to make curtains in her bedroom. They turned out quite lovely. I have both lace and linen handkerchiefs like in your puzzle and also many lovely flowered print and applique ones. Not enough to make curtains but I have thought of incorporating them in valances.

Why this advertisement?