Children's Handkerchiefs by J. J. Murphy (1998, Hardcover)

I purchased this book on Ebay a few years ago as I have an interest in childrens handkerchiefs and also sell hankies on Ebay. This is really an in depth chronicle of two hundred years worth of children's handkerchiefs. Wow, did you know they were around for that long! The over 350 color photographs will take you hours to look at carefully. The books author is JJ Murphy, a noted collector of hankies, & the book was published by Schiffer Publishing Ltd. It is a hard cover book & has 156 pages. The book works chronilogically through time from the first hankie Poor Richards Almanac dating to CA 1790-1800. right thru to contemporary Japanese type character hankie ca 1997. The earliest hankies were often learning tools, with poetry, history, alphabet, even a table of weights & measures for children! These early handkerchiefs were always 2 color. The next section is for mid nineteenth century. The hankies get a little more colorful & fun. You will see examples of deep turkey red pieces & colorful chromolithographic pieces. The book then moves onto the late 19th century to the 1920's. Again more color & fun. Still some learning hankie though with alphabets & animals. The Victorian era brought some lovely childrens hankies. I have been fortunate enough to have several that are pictured in the book. You will see beautiful pictures of hankies including Little Red Riding Hood, The artwork of Jessie Wilcox Smith, Fairy Tales, Der Struwwelpeter (Slovenly Peter) from Germany, Christmas hankies, military hankies & the much sought after Golliwogs & Kewpies. From here the book goes to "The Influence of Mass Culture". Depicted here are of course quite a few Disney versions including the beloved Mickey Mouse, Snow White, & Pinocchio. There is also Little Orphan Annie, The Little Rascals, Betty Boop, Elsie the Cow, the Dionne Quints, & much more. The chronological history ends with "The Beginning of the End" featuring handkerchiefs from the 1940's-1990's. Full color bright & cheerful hankies you will see photos of include the very valuable Black Americana hankies, artists Mabel Lucie Atwell & Tom Lamb, Sports, Animals, Cowboys & Indians & "Modern" Space related designs. The book also gives a bit of information on the care of vintage handkerchiefs & a price value guide. I found this to be very interesting. The very early pieces that you will rarely see are valued upwards of $2500. Murphy has pictured a set of Kewpie Hankies in original box ca 1910 that is valued at $3000-$3500. More contemporary designs can fetch anywhere from $2- $50. You can usually find a pretty good variety of children's handkerchiefs on Ebay. If you want to start a collection of children's handkerchiefs then I highly recommend this book. Have Fun!