Fun with Vintage Valentine Puzzle Hankies

Many years ago I collected vintage Valentine hankies. It started when I found a poinsettia Christmas hankie in my mother’s things after she died. I remembered her carrying it. Soon after, I was wandering around an antique mall and found another one, and why have one when you can have two…or three or… They were easy to store, inexpensive, and fun to look for when out and about because you didn’t find them that often. I branched out to all holidays and subjects and it was a fun search for several years. Then Ebay came along and they were too easy to find on there and there were too many collectors driving up the prices so after a while I stopped collecting. I still have a very large vintage hankie collection. I didn’t realize that some of my Valentine hankies were puzzle hankies until I read a book about vintage hankies. They were also called Secret Message hankies. When they are folded in a certain way, they look completely different and sometimes they have a special message. They date from the late 40’s and early 50’s but none of mine have any markings or labels still on them. Since I wrote this blog post I have discovered St. Patrick’s Day and a Mother’s Puzzle hankie too so there are more designs out there.

The Valentine hankie in the first photo looks like this when it is unfolded. Unless you know that it is a puzzle hankie with a secret message, it just looks like a pretty Valentine hankie.

You start to create the design by folding the hankie in half horizonally from bottom edge to top edge after you determine which side is the top. You might have to try folding it a couple different ways until you get it right.

Then you fold that folded half back down in half on top of itself. At this point you may begin to see the new design you are creating.

You fold the hankie in half again from left edge to right edge.

Lastly fold the previous fold of the hankie back on itself from right to left. Suddenly the message, My Valentine, appears. You may need to adjust the design a bit. Once you see the secret message or design you can look back and see parts of it in the orginal unfolded hankie.

The easiest way to find a puzzle hankie is to look at the borders of the design and the design on the Valentine hankie. On a puzzle hankie they are always irregular and the side designs don’t match.

A regular Valentine hankie is usually symmetrical although sometimes there is a large design on the hankie that isn’t symmetrical.

You can see the irregular design border on this Valentine puzzle hankie and the corner designs don’t match.

When you fold it, a Cupid suddenly appears! I love this one!

The irregular design really shows on this one.

Once it is folded, it becomes a heart. The folds are a bit different with this one. Sometimes you have to experiment to determine what the correct folds and sequence should be to create the design.

I like the tiny hearts in the center of this one.

This one becomes another heart. This one required differents folds than the other ones I have. Sometimes the final design doesn’t line up perfectly.

Once you learn how to identify Valentine puzzle hankies you can sometimes determine what the words will be in the secret message by looking carefully for individual letters in the design before you start folding.

The words, With Love, appear after the final fold on this one. If you look back at the original unfolded hankie you can see bits and pieces of the letters.

Lots of flowers on this one.

With the final fold, another Cupid appears on this one. He is well hidden in the unfolded hankie. These vintage Valentine puzzle hankies are not always easy to find because they are so old and if you do find them, they are sometimes expensive. I do see them on Ebay from time to time. Sometimes the seller doesn’t realize that it is a puzzle hankie so the price is more reasonable. I love their secret messages!

For more photos of some of my vintage Valentine hankies check here.

I have just started a Facebook Group, Vintage Hankies, Handkerchiefs, https://www.facebook.com/groups/897980928627111 to share photos of my hankies. I am hoping that others will join and share their hankies too!

Bits and Pieces of Christmas at Our House

Favorite Christmas stories

A cute piece of Christmas stitchery I found on Ebay a few years ago.

Another piece of stitchery that comes out every year.

A framed vintage gingerbread hankie on the kitchen etagere.

The Advent Calendar, love the space for candy or small surprises.

A snowy bathroom.

Small hand-painted pewter, I love these!

A bit of the Santa tree, only Santa ornaments.

A bit of the Gingerbread and Candy tree.

A bit of the Snowman tree.

The Hallmark Nativity

A Felt Stocking Family Tradition

For three generations our family has created felt stockings for new family members to use at Christmas time. Every generation is a different color.

The tradition started over 65 years ago when I was a child. A friend of my parents made stockings for everyone in our family. Mine has been repaired over the years from time to time. It holds such special memories for me.

After my husband and I were married, my mother made him a stocking too and added bits and pieces to show some of his interests at that time. She also added the year that he joined our family. His has a few scars that need attention this year.

After my daughter was born, my mother continued the tradition and made her a stocking as well only hers was red to indicate a new generation. I have added a few things to it over the years as my daughter’s interests have changed. My mother made one for each of our two sons as well.

After my mother passed, as each of our children married, I continued the tradition and made stockings for their spouses too.

With the arrival of the first grandchild, I changed the color of the stocking to green to indicate another new generation. As they grow up, I will add other bits and pieces as their interests develop. I continued to make new stockings for each new grandchild. (This year I plan to reduce the size of the yellow numbers on a few, they got way too big! Some of the dates have been removed in these photos for privacy.)

The stockings stay with us for now and they don’t travel when we travel for the holidays. They are somewhat fragile and every year I need to made repairs of some kind or another. As my mother did before me, eventually they will be given to each family to use or display, as they wish. The whole family loves seeing these stockings appear every year for Santa to fill if the family is here. The stockings are hung even if the family members are not here. It is a very special family Christmas tradition.

Favorite Christmas Children’s Books

I started my Librarian career as a Children’s Librarian and the saying goes, once a Children’s Librarian, always a Children’s Librarian. Even after I moved to other kinds of librarianship, I continued to collect Children’s books and after my children were born, every Christmas, there were books under the tree, some for them, and some for me! Some of them were pricey at the time but they are now being enjoyed by the next generation so I feel like they were worth it. I put a selection out on the coffee table every Christmas and they serve as wonderful decorations but they also receive lots of special attention from family and friends. I decided to share a few and it was very difficult to choose! Some of these Children’s books are not in publication but you can find them on the secondary market.

I have a tradition of buying a new “Night before Christmas” book every year even though my children are grown and gone. When they come home for the holidays with grandchildren, they still love these books, old and new. I love books with full page illustrations and I just love this Santa face!. Amazon gives you a sneak peak at a few pages from this book so you can see what I mean. It was published in 2011.

I have always been a fan of the artist and illustrator Mary Engelbreit and this version of “The Night before Christmas” is so colorful and the illustrations are so detailed that little ones will really enjoy looking closely at each page. The book was published in 2002.

This is a wonderful story about what happened in Bethlehem on the evening of Christmas. The full page illustrations are absolutely wonderful. It was a Christian Book Award finalist in the children’s category and it was published in 2017.

My mother loved poinsettias and I love them too. I have collected a few books about the poinsettia flower and this one is a favorite. It was published in 1994. You may be able to find the hardcover in a used book store.

I have always loved the artist and illustrator Jan Brett and this is one of my favorite versions of all my “Twelve Days of Christmas” books. It was published in 1989.

It wouldn’t be Christmas without Rudolph! This is the original version of the story of Rudolph written in verse in 1939. I adore the full page illustrations. It was published in 2001.

This book is dear to my heart. I loved Peter Spier’s books when I was a Children’s Librarian and after my children were born, I bought this one when it was published in 1983. It is a wordless book and the detailed illustrations on each page tell a wonderful story about a family’s activities while celebrating the Christmas season. My children are adults now but they still love to sit and look at this book.

Well-illustrated children’s books can be expensive but I have always felt that an expensive toy often doesn’t last that long. A special book can be read over and over even continuing on into the next generation, and the memories that creates are priceless.