Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 228, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 September 1914 — HAS STORY OF OWN [ARTICLE]

HAS STORY OF OWN

Handkerchiefs Originally Used in Persia to Mop Face. Habit of Snuff Taking First Brought It Into Common Use—lts Connection With Royalty—Was Disseminator of Ne.ws. New York. —The first handkerchief, used originally in Persia, was a small square of silk, the principal use of. which was to wipe the moisture from the brow. .From Persia it passed to Greece and then by the way of Rome spread slowly throughout Europe. It was for centuries affected only by people of wealth and was used for many purposes—ornament, as a carrier of strong scents, as a favor to be worn by a gallant in his hat.

It was the odious habit of snuff taking which finally brought the handkerchief into common use, which increased its size and changed the material of which it was composed, a writer in the Rochester (N. Y.) PostExpress observes. The varied uses to which handkerchiefs have been put are numerous.

As propagators of general knowledge they were employed during the reign of Queen Anne to carry the text of her majesty’s speech to parliament, on April 8, 1710, which was printed upon

their surface, into the homes of many who would otherwise have remained in blissful ignorance. In like manner were circulated the announcements of the treaty of Utrecht and of Marlborough’s victories over the French. In 1745 handkerchiefs stamped with the portraits of the young pretender’s leading adherents were issued with a view of facilitating - capture of the rebels. In retaliation the Stuart party printed other handkerchiefs, that the rough likeness of George II depicted thereon, might be put to ignoble use. Naturally handkerchiefs kept pace with other extravagances in dress, being oftentimes edged with costly lace and embroidered with initials, armorial bearings, love mottoes and sundry ingenious designs—those, for instance, of the duchess of Chevreuse being worked with cupids one another and garlands of roses. Sprays of heliotrope, tied with mauve colored ribbon, adorned the Handkerchiefs of La Grande Mademoiselle, the niece of Louise XIII, while the colors of the comtesse de Castiglione’s—corresponding on all occasions to those of her garters —changed with every passing mood and passion. Thus, whgn she fancied herself in love, garters and handkerchiefs were blue, but If the subject of her wayward affection was suspected of infidelity, azure was discarded for yellow, which she retained until her naturally buoyant spirits, having exorcised the demon of jealousy, demanded the substitution of green, as betokening exuberant gayety and rude health.

Jewels, as might have been expected, entered largely into the decorative schemes employed in these delicate samples of lace work. Mme. du Barry owned a handkerchief on which her name was embroidered In precious stones, while pearls to the value of £ 1,000 were scattered over a square of precious lace in the possession of the ill-fated Marie Antoinette, whose friend, the equally hapless Mme. du Lamballe, owned a similar superfluity. More valuable, however, than these is a handkerchief owned by Queen Mar; gerita of Italy—a unique specimen of

FlfteentSTSfifenttfir lace valued at £3,000. On January 2, 1785. Louis XVI, at the instance of Queen Marie Antoinette, issued an edict decreeing that “the .length of handkerchiefs shall equal their breadth henceforth throughout the kingdom.” This edict would seem finally to have determined custom throughout the civilized world as to the future shape of a useful article.