Vintage Needle Books
These are all needle books that belonged to my great-grandmother and grandmother. I have always loved the cover illustrations, and the foil paper on the inside reminds me of Christmas wrap from the 50s.
I never noticed until now that all of them but one use a foil paper with embossed spider webs on it, no matter where they originated. Was there someone who had a worldwide monopoly on needle card paper? Or did all paper manufacturers just know, “needle holders require a shiny spider web pattern in jewel tones”?
I am not one of those people who keeps every card and piece of homework, but I do love the little pieces of paper history my family has collected over the years – the WWII ration cards, farming brochures, and sewing notions. How do you feel about ephemera? Do you stuff it in a box until you can sort it? Do you collect a certain category and pass on the rest? If you do keep it, do you ever use it in artwork? I would love to hear about it!
I have a very similar collection from my grandmothers. I also have my great grandmother’s collection of crochet needles, and they are really needles. The kind used for very fine, lace crochet. These little pieces are a window into the soul of the women who came before me.
I have some of those too! My great-grandmother put lace on everything! I’m glad they left me those instead of huge pieces of furniture – their notions don’t take any room to store, and you’re right, they say so much about the women who used them.
What a lovely collection, made special knowing it has come from family members. I love ephemera but don’t have special ones from my family. I do have some of my mum’s lovely books from her childhood which is special.
Old books are wonderful – are you going to do a post about them?
they are lovely, what a great collection. x
Thanks! I find those old illustrations so comforting for some reason.
Aren’t needle books fun! Looking at your collection makes me wonder why it was made and who found it beautiful and useful enough to keep!
If I remember correctly, these came from my grandmother. She might have gotten them as gifts at different times, and just kept them because, “You never know when they’ll come in handy!” 🙂