TREASURE HUNT

So, you’ve pulled out your best holiday sweater, you’re wearing tinsel earrings and snowman socks are keeping your toes nice and toasty in your fur-lined boots. You even picked out a Christmas tie for your sweetie.

What about your holiday hanky?

There was a time, in the days before Kleenex, when no well dressed woman would think of going out without putting a freshly pressed handkerchief in her purse.

Delicate linen and lace-trimmed hankies were carried for dress-up occasions like Sunday or weddings and funerals.

Pretty cotton hankies printed with colorful flowers were tucked in sleeves and at the waist for every day. There were even whimsical specialty handkerchiefs for the holidays.

Handkerchiefs were often given as gifts to women and young girls. It isn’t uncommon to find them still crisp and folded into a birthday or holiday card, or tucked into a drawer in their original box.

Now those little squares of fabric, meant to be folded into a pocket or purse, have quite a following and are sought by different kinds of collectors. A cotton Christmas hanky from the 1950s might appeal to a dedicated handkerchief collector, but it could also appeal to those who like vintage Christmas items, and even those who collect specific things like Santas, snowmen or reindeer.

Vintage handkerchiefs are one of the least-expensive and easiest-to-find collectibles. Most are priced under $5 at antique malls and estate sales, and it isn’t unusual to pick them up at thrift stores and garage sales for under a dollar.

Anyone can fish a crumpled tissue out of her pocket. Why not show a little vintage style and carry a hanky instead?