Handkerchief exhibit ‘nothing to sneeze at’

September, and all of Madison hovers on the brink of cold and flu season (not to mention the ongoing allergy onslaught). While it can provide no lasting relief, the Gallery of Design will offer an exhibition in keeping with the time of year.

(View larger version) (View larger version) The Gallery of Design exhibition “Nothing to Sneeze At: Handkerchiefs Presented by the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection” will open Sunday, Oct. 3. Featured will be more than 100 examples, mostly from the 1930s, 40s and 50s. Guest curator: Aimee Glassel.

“Nothing to Sneeze At: Handkerchiefs Presented by the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection” will open Sunday, Oct. 3.

Featured will be more than 100 examples of handkerchiefs, mostly from the 1930s, 40s and 50s. All will be drawn from the 1,000-plus handkerchiefs in the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection in the School of Human Ecology, and from the private collection of Nancy Mladenoff, assistant professor in the Department of Art and J.J. Murphy, professor of communication arts.

Guest curator for the exhibition is Aimee Glassel, a librarian for the Internet Scout project, a resource review housed in the Department of Computer Sciences. Glassel says working with the Allen collection while a graduate student sparked her interest in handkerchiefs. Indeed, the collection contains many cultural curiosities, Glassel says.

For example, a whole category of handkerchiefs record the American preoccupation with slimness, and the lengths to which women have been encouraged to go to achieve the societal ideal.

“You could send away to magazines for handkerchiefs printed with exercises and diet menus — there’s one from Harper’s Bazaar that calls for grapefruit and black coffee every day for breakfast. Once a week you could have something called a ‘jelly omelet.’ Personally, I can’t imagine what that would be like,” she says.

Nutrition was not the only subject for handkerchief instruction. Other topics include French language lessons or the rules for contract bridge. Glassel says the collection also contains a fine selection of “crying handkerchiefs.”

“They may have had a special printed corner mapped off where you were supposed to wipe your eyes or blow your nose,” she says. Other entries in the exhibition commemorate travel destinations, special events such as baby showers or graduations, or holidays.

Glassels’ favorite depicts the exploits of “Shock-headed Peter,” hero of several German-language nursery rhymes that Heinrich Hoffmann wrote for his son as Christmas presents in 1844. The three “Shock-headed” handkerchiefs in “Nothing to Sneeze At” date from the early years of this century.

While commonplace through the 1950s, handkerchiefs have become rather rare in this age of disposable tissue. However, Glassel says our heightened environmental awareness may help change that.

“Maybe it’s just a Madison thing, but I’ve seen more and more people turn to handkerchiefs as a way to cut down on paper consumption,” she says.

Glassel will discuss general handkerchief history in lectures Sunday, Oct. 3, at 1:30 p.m. and Wednesday, Nov. 10, at noon. Collectors Nancy Mladenoff and J.J. Murphy will talk about their handkerchiefs Tuesday, Oct. 26, at 5:15 p.m. All lectures will take place in the Gallery of Design on the ground floor of the School of Human Ecology, 1300 Linden Drive.

“Nothing to Sneeze At” will run through Sunday, Nov. 21. The free gallery is open 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 1-4 p.m. Sundays. Information: (608) 262-8815.