It's time for back to school and it makes me think of my mother especially. She was an elementary school and Spanish teacher for over 30 years. This is one of her classes, from 1940.
She went to college during the Depression which was quite difficult for her family to afford. Education was extremely important and she worked her way through at Lees McRae College, NC and Florida State College for Women (now Florida State Univ.) Her jobs included weaving tea towels, cleaning dorms, and assisting in the cafeteria.
She went to college during the Depression which was quite difficult for her family to afford. Education was extremely important and she worked her way through at Lees McRae College, NC and Florida State College for Women (now Florida State Univ.) Her jobs included weaving tea towels, cleaning dorms, and assisting in the cafeteria.
Mother had never known how to weave before college. She took a class at Lees McRae and loved it which led to her job opportunity. The tea towels were made to sell to tourists visiting the Appalachian mountains. She made several styles but her favorite was this pattern with beautiful dogwood blossoms. Many years later when we took trips to TN and NC we often found the same dogwood adorned towels available at craft and tourist shops. I have a few of the towels, not made by my mother, but I can't find them right now. Hopefully they are stored away in a safe place. I've looked in the china cabinet, the cedar chest, the linen closet, the bin of Grandmother's crochet, etc and no luck. Time for a thorough sort to find those towels! I used to keep them in the Easter bin with all the baskets, plastic eggs, and decorations, but they aren't there.
I'm anxious to find those dogwood tea towels. They remind me of my mother, her dedication to hard work and education, and our happy trips to Appalachia. They're a real treasure.
"And all the women that were wise hearted did spin with their hands, and brought that which they had spun, both of blue, and of purple,and of scarlet, and of fine linen."
Exodus 35:25
I'm anxious to find those dogwood tea towels. They remind me of my mother, her dedication to hard work and education, and our happy trips to Appalachia. They're a real treasure.
"And all the women that were wise hearted did spin with their hands, and brought that which they had spun, both of blue, and of purple,and of scarlet, and of fine linen."
Exodus 35:25