contrasts and similarities

[launderedlace]

Being relatively new to SFF, I’ve still a backlog of previously unshared observations to post. These two occurred in the same city, around the same time: my thought now, is that by putting them together, their similarities and their differences might read interestingly

The first observation took place on a train, and features a young woman sitting opposite me with her male friend or partner. There were no preliminaries: the young woman simply reached inside her sleeve, produced a nondescript slightly off-white scrunched-up ball, and raised it to her nose. Still in the form of a scrunched-up ball, she blew into it reasonably forcefully and wetly: for me, so far, not a memorable observation; then things changed. To an extent, the crumples were shaken out, seemingly to enable a brief inspection and, to my complete surprise, a small lace handkerchief became apparent. The centre of solid material was minimalistic; the surrounding of ornate lace made up the majority of the handkerchief’s area. Although it was being treated in a matter-of-fact, almost harsh way, the delicate fabric appeared undamaged. It wasn’t clear whether the off-white hue was down to the fabric’s original colour, whether it had aged to this tone, or whether repeated recent use had rendered it grubby. Inspection over, the handkerchief was brusquely shoved back into the woman's sleeve

The location of the second observation was a city-centre university campus. Walking towards me was a different woman, presumably a student or young academic. Clasped by one hand to her nose was a fully-unfurled, still pristine, tiny and sparklingly-white lace handkerchief, displaying a complete set of sharply-laundered folds. Again, the centre of solid fabric was miniscule; again, the surround of gorgeously patterned lace was generously deep. In all probability, the handkerchief was starched since, unsupported, it obligingly remained completely unfolded, covering much of the woman’s lower face. She marched on: no blowing, no trembling of lace, no active use of the handkerchief or evidence of snot beginning to creep into the fabric; her hand, her face and her handkerchief moved past me in a virtually rigid combination. Was she taking particularly great care of her dainty handkerchief? Was it, indeed, hers or was it borrowed; had she, or someone else, laundered it: who knows?!

[Rick]

Interesting use of the handkerchief for a nose-blow while still a scrunched up ball - maybe a sign of urgency as you said things sounded pretty wet? Obviously well prepared with a handkerchief, but contrasting with the relatively "unskilled" use of it - not taking the time to unfold it, take the nose in a particular grip etc.

[launderedlace]

26 minutes ago, Rick said:

Interesting use of the handkerchief for a nose-blow while still a scrunched up ball - maybe a sign of urgency as you said things sounded pretty wet? Obviously well prepared with a handkerchief, but contrasting with the relatively "unskilled" use of it - not taking the time to unfold it, take the nose in a particular grip etc.

I think there's a fair chance that you've hit the nail on the head here, but there might also be at least one other possibility. Perhaps the woman accurately understood the capabilities and limitations of her lace handkerchief; after all, it did appear well-used. By itself, as a single layer, the lace would have had almost zero effectiveness in absorbing snot but, scrunched up and so being part of something more solid, it would have been more practical and have helped keep her fingers dry. Maybe she really had discovered a realistic way to use a small lace handkerchief for any nose blow involving more than a minimal amount of snot

[Trynasneeze]

Definitely don't see a lot of people using lace handkerchiefs these days!

[Hankysneeze]

2 hours ago, Trynasneeze said:

Definitely don't see a lot of people using lace handkerchiefs these days!

Agreed, don't think I've ever seen one being used.

[launderedlace]

3 hours ago, Hankysneeze said:

Agreed, don't think I've ever seen one being used.

Yes, I'd guesstimate that 99% of lace handkerchiefs that have ever existed are now either: (1) several decades into languishing at the back of a drawer or, (2) variously recycled or simply thrown away. Which, for seriously vintage, intricately detailed hand-made ones that would have taken hours of skilled craftsmanship to create, is perhaps a slightly sad loss of a true art-form. However ... some do get actively sold on the likes of eBay, and they can feature at real-life antique fairs such as the one that Rachel and Julie visit in 'Embroidered handkerchief distraction - the fiction' - I believe there is also, for example, a niche market for them as favours at vintage-themed weddings. For those of us who have lace handkerchiefs, we continue to have the option to use them and to explore, with friends, whether any of them may be interested in doing likewise (most won't, but that's not a problem!). There are some fairly contemporary on-line examples of nose-blowing with lace handkerchiefs, of course, but I've just read the SFF guidelines more carefully and realised that hot-linking isn't the done thing!