Where Have All the Tea Towels Gone?







When I was a child one of my favorite past times was what my grandmother called "ROOTING." To Lizzie, rooting was the rummaging that only a 4 year old can do to a well ordered drawer of linens. My favorite drawer to pillage was the "tea towel" drawer.


She had towels of all kinds stashed away in that drawer. First, there were the ones she used for regular, mundane run of the mill, chores. They looked like flour sacks and some were checkered terry towels in red, blue, yellow and green. Others were an unbleached muslin color with orange and blue stripes down the long sides.


These were the ones we saw everyday. They grabbed the hot pot when one of my hand made loop potholders ( a story for another time) was not available. They wiped jelly from affected hands and faces when children moved too fast for the washcloth to catch. Yeoman towels they were, yeoman work they did.


Next, there were the fancier towels. Splashed with fruit and flowers and patterns, these came out for Sunday and special occasions. They were the Oscar winners of the collection and wore like iron.


Then there were the really special towels. These were the Holiday towels. Made of the same materials, some terry, others the scratchy muslin stuff that didn't seem to soak up the liquid assigned, they showed up at Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving. Filled with the ubiquitous santas, bunnies, turkeys and cornucopias, we saw these gems once a year. they were usually accompanied by matching potholders.


At the top of the heap came the hand embroidered towels. I dubbed these my very favorite of all time. Pieces of history, these towels told stories of the family. There were the morning glory towels that Aunt Mossie did last summer. Along with the flowers could be found towels with kitchen utensils lovingly sewn with colored thread by Aunt Nettie. Some with blue forget me nots with the exquisite French knot forming the center were done by aunt Margie's hand. All of the contents of this drawer told a story in one way or another.


If my grandmother was in an expansive mood, and that meant if there was not something in the oven needing her attention, she could be prevailed upon to recount the stories. Though heard so many times, I could stop her and correct the tale if she omitted something, this was one of my favorite times with her.

The hand embroidered towels came out on the occasions when the aunts came for lunch. Stories were told and retold The sisters squabbled over bowls of soup and tuna sandwiches about who did what, when.


Soon the number of towels expanded with the addition of the crooked stitches and unusual knots that were made by my chubby fingers as I learned the craft from Lizzie and the Aunts. The tea towel drawer overfloweth!



Years, later when the grandparents were gone, the contents of the drawer was markedly smaller. Some towels had gone to the "rag bag" as Lizzie called it. Some were so thin and frail that their fruitful days were done. Stamped patterns were faded or gone entirely. The embroidered towels were losing their tight stitches. The flour sack and muslin towels were very frayed. The good and faithful servants were dispatched without much ado. There were tears from the one to whom the drawer was special.


I had not given much thought to dishtowels, nor to this particular drawer of them until I went shopping with my mother last week. Mom, now 86, wanted to get some new dishtowels. How hard can this be?

Harder than one would think.


We toured places with "Mart" after their name, finding only thin, faux terry towels fraught with roosters, or apples, grapes or fat chefs riding bicycles. Accompanying those were potholders and oven mitts in similar motifs.


There were also some solid colored towels. We saw none of the checkerboard colorful towels of yore. Gone also were the thirsty terry towels that I remembered. Towels needing embroidery or needlework were limited to the crossstitch fad. PLEASE!


Mom declined to purchase these imposters as did I. Still, I thought, there had to be SOMETHING out there that would do the job in the way I required. Today I figured it out.


While shopping, mom bought new bath towels and washcloths. When we got home she discovered that she had not purchased hand towels. In my whole lifetime, I don't recall ever using hand towels. She must have bought matching things after I left home.


I told her that I, dutiful child that I am, would get the hand towels and mail them to Baltimore.


Last week, as I was accomplishing this feat, I had an AHA! moment. Talk about your multi tasker! These hand towels are a great size. They are terry and soak up much liquid. They come in a myriad of colors. If you stretch a point, they come with flowers and sea shells and embellishments. That makes them a little "bathroomy" for me, but the solids will do nicely in my kitchen.

Alas! My dishtowel drawer is not nearly as historic and child friendly as Lizzie's was. There is not a tale to be told in the bin.