It was said that Queen Elizabeth I, who carried handkerchiefs embroidered with gold and silver thread, created a whole vocabulary of hankie gestures for dealing with her staff. Soon a whole language of flirting developed which survived well into Victorian times. Speaking of brides and courtship the handkerchief served as a surreptitious go-between to send explicit messages to the gimlet eyed observer. The tradition of borrowing a bridal hankie may have stemmed from the times when they were too expensive for a young bride to afford.

Aristocrats sitting for their portraits would request that a handkerchief be included in the picture, the more embellished the better, to indicate their status and position.Ĭonsidered a symbol of wealth, handkerchiefs became larger and larger, until, in 1785 Louis XVI issued a decree prohibiting anyone from carrying a handkerchief larger than his. In Persia, they were considered a sign of nobility and were reserved for kings. The loss of a handkerchief was found recorded in publications as far back as 1665. Once considered so valuable they were listed in dowries, as well as bequeathed in wills. Handkerchiefs appeared in Shakespearian plays – Cymbeline, As You Like It, and most memorably Othello, in which a misunderstanding over a handkerchief caused Othello to kill his wife and then himself. Renaissance portraits show both men and women holding handkerchiefs embroidered and edged in lace. In the fifteenth century, European traders returned from China with great numbers of peasants’ headscarves, which Europeans appropriated as fashion accessories. During the middle ages, a knight would tie a lady’s handkerchief to the back of his helmet as a good luck talisman. The Romans waved handkerchiefs in the air at public games, and the drop of a hankie would signal the beginning of the chariot races. Christian tradition links the handkerchief or sudarium to the Shroud of Turn offered by Veronica to Christ. Statues dating as far back as the Chou dynasty (1000 BC) show figures holding decorative pieces of cloth. Some historians opine the handkerchief originated in China, and was first used to shield a person’s head from the hot sun. I offer the following as a compendium of fascinating facts gathered from a variety of sources that appear to be reliable. In no way should you consider me a historian, nor this a comprehensive history. Numerous histories of the handkerchief abound, with some facts contradicting others.

Handkerchiefs have been with us in the small moments – dabbing a baby’s chin, wrapping a child’s cut finger, catching a tear while watching An Affair to Remember for the umpteenth time, and the major moments – a bride’s tears of joy, a widow’s deep despair, a marine tucking his wife’s perfumed hankie over his heart. True collectors have hankies that stretch much farther back in time, for these keepsakes were special to someone, and were thus saved, and survived for us to savor. Personally, I have handkerchiefs in my collection dating back to 1893. Some hankies have been saved for decades. I know because over the years, I’ve heard countless stories from people about a handkerchief they treasure.

Who could imagine that a simple square of cotton or silk could hold memories of sadness, loss, joy, hope, happiness and love in their evanescent folds? But they do. Stories of hope, heartache and happiness hiding in the humble handkerchief –

Knights and brides signal source