Object Record
Images
Metadata
Object Name |
Towel, Decorated Hand |
Object ID # |
2024.33.16 |
Other Name |
Show Towel |
Title |
Susan L. Landis's show towel, 1896 |
Place of Origin |
Lower Salford Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania |
Date |
1896 |
Material |
Homespun linen |
Dimensions |
H-48 W-16.75 inches |
Description |
Homespun linen show towel decorated in red silk cross-stitch embroidery with the name "Susan L. Landis" and date 1896. Decoration includes birds, chicken, star, plants with flowers, tulips, and the old, traditional "O Edel Hertz" motif. |
Provenance |
Decorated hand towel, dated 1896, made by or for Susan L. Alderfer Landis (1874-1962) of Lower Salford Township, possibly by her sister Annie L. Alderfer. They were the daughters of Levi S. and Sarah Landis Alderfer. Susan had married Abram M. Landis in 1893, and had two very young children by mid-1896. Her sister Annie made several other nearly identical show towels for herself and her three brothers, over the next ten years. Susan later gave the towel to her daughter Susan Landis Ruth, who eventually gave it to her son John L. Ruth (the donor). |
Source |
Gift of John L. Ruth |
People |
Landis, Susan L. Alderfer, 1874-1962 |