Children's handkerchiefs

Article published by Kristina on 2016-03-03

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A handkerchief in the pocket, in the school bag or perhaps in the jacket sleeve was a must for the children, when I was a child. It could be used for everything, except to blow the nose in. Wipe off the ink pen, dry the hands, tie over a wound , yes, only imagination sets limits. Mom was not so glad, when the dirty handkerchief came to her laundry. Cooking on the stove was a common way to clean a badly stained handkerchief.

Children´s handkerchiefs often had a nice and colourful print with kids, animals, fairy tales, flowers and pictures from reality, such as school police and cars. Almost all the children's handkerchiefs were decorated in some way, but today, the prints are bleached by the numerous washes and it's hard to find unused ones. Many handkerchiefs were sewn from thin cotton and had simple machine hems, that ragged up in the corners of diligently use. It was no status to draw motives for children´designer's names. One of them is Arnold Tilgmann.

But then there were other hankies. You got them in gift packages, small cardboard boxes with a nice picture on the cover. They were so fine, that you wanted to keep them unused. You opened the box and admired the print or the embroidery. The folds turned yellow and the lid was worn.The small boxes remained unused.Now you can buy them on the second-hand market. And still admire them!

Arnold Gotthard Tilgmann ( 1902 Küssnacht, Switzerland - 1978 [1], Helsinki) was a Finnish opera singer, illustrator ,businessman - and cartoonist. Tilgmann was the most productive illustrator of the 1940s and 1950s.

His parents were Herman Hildor Tilgmann and Alma Matilda Sjöblom. Arnold Tilgmann it was a pupil at the Finnish Art Society drawing school 1920-1922, and also studied singing in the late 1920s in Italy (maestro Ferrari).

At age 25 Tilgmann worked in Turku stone press. There he designed, among other. Sisu pastille package and logo. Sisu logo has remained unchanged from the 1920s to the present day. Between 1927-39 Tilgmann worked at advertising agency Erva-Latvala as a graphic artist.

After Winter War Tilgmann founded the Art Publishing House Oy Ab palette which published, among other things, children's books, games, coloring books, as well as Tilgmann self-designed postcards. Tilgmann drew a total of over 1 500 sets of postcards. He drew children's picture books and illustrated games, playing cards, table cloths, wall paintings, etc. Tilgmann was also the main shareholder. Tilgmann withdrew in 1970 due to his health. The company's operations continued to be led by his children until the end of 1980.

Examples of children handkerchiefs:

Boy and dog x 3