QUILT INDEX RECORD

18-14-77

Description:

This quilt was made and raffled to raise money for victims of the Johnstown, PA flood. This photo (September 1936) shows the quilt hanging in her husband's store window. A placard reads: "Help the Flood Sufferers! A Beautiful Quilt Will be Raffled. Proceeds to Go To Red Cross. Chances are only 10 cents per. Help the Unfortunates! Quilt maker . . . Mary Gasperik." On St. Patrick's Day of 1936 a disastrous flood wiped out nearly one-third of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. By the time the waters had receded on the evening of the second day, $50 million in damage had been inflicted, 25 people had been killed and 9000 were left homeless. The disaster received national news coverage, and Mary Gasperik decided to try to help.

Essay:

When Gasperik pieced her Dresden Plate, she was choosing to make what was probably the single most popular pattern offered by The Detroit News and hanging in Detroit quilt shows of the 1930s. Gasperik discovered the Detroit News quilt club and quilt shows in October 1935. She was an enthusiastic participant until they ended in 1941. As the Detroit News quilt club and show director Edith B. Crumb wrote in her column "Quilters Are Same Today As in the Olden Times" (Detroit News December 31, 1935, p. 18): "...A hundred years from now if quilts we have made were brought together -- think what the result would be! There would be hundreds and hundreds of Dresden Plates, Nosegays, Flower Gardens, etc..." In the case of this quilt, as so many others, the influence of what Gasperik saw at the Detroit News quilt show greatly influenced her quilt-making choices.

Where are the records for this quilt housed?

Mary Gasperik Legacy Project

Who documented this quilt?

Mary Gasperik Private Collection

Gasperik Legacy Project Number:

070

This is a:

Finished quilt

Quilt's title:

Dresden Plate

Owner's name for quilt:

Dresden Plate

How wide is the quilt?

Unknown

How long is the quilt?

Unknown

Shape of edge:

Scalloped

Shape of corners:

Scalloped

Overall color scheme:

Multicolor

Quilt's condition:

Unknown/Not Rated

Time period:

1930-1949

When was the quilt finished?

1936

Family/owner's date for quilt:

1936

Date estimated by an antique dealer, quilt historian or appraiser:

1935-40

Who estimated the quilt's date?

Merikay Waldvogel

Further information concerning dates:

The date is based on the only evidence of the quilt--a b/w photo dated September 1936.

Describe the quilt's layout:

Block pattern

Arrangement of quilt blocks:

Straight

Number of borders:

One

Describe the borders:

"Ice Cream Cone" border along outside edge. Print fabric alternating with a solid fabric.

Fiber types used to make the quilt top:

Cotton

Fabric styles used in the quilt top:

Print; Solid/plain

Materials used to make the back:

Cotton

Materials used in the quilt binding:

Cotton

Quilt top made by:

Gasperik, Mary

Quilted by:

Gasperik, Mary

Where the quilt was made, city:

Chicago

Where the quilt was made, county:

Cook County

Where the quilt was made, state:

Illinois (IL)

Where the quilt was made, country:

United States

How was this quilt acquired?

Raffle or contest prize

Describe anything about the history of the quilt that wasn't already recorded in a previous field:

It is not known who won the raffle for this quilt or what became of it after it was displayed in the Gasperik Market's front window in 1936.

Why was the quilt made?

Fundraising

Quilt is presently used as:

Unknown

Describe present uses of the quilt:

Mary's grandchildren regard her quilts as a unique collection to be preserved and appreciated.

Where did the maker find their pattern?

Commercial/Published source: Pattern

Commercial name of the pattern for the top:

McCall Printed Pattern With Transfer #74, featuring Dresden Plate and Fan Design.

Describe anything about the design of the quilt that wasn't already recorded in a previous field:

Although impossible to tell from the 1936 photograph (the only surviving image of this quilt), the quilting design Gasperik used was probably the one proposed by McCall pattern #74.

Publications (including web sites) where this quilt or maker was featured:

Merikay Waldvogel and Barbara Brackman. Patchwork Souvenirs of the 1933 Chicago World's Fair, (Nashville, TN: Rutledge Hill Press, 1993)102-103.

Merikay Waldvogel "One American Dream Comes True", Quilters Newsletter Magazine, March 2008, 46-49.

Related items such as diaries, obituaries, wills, household inventories, or pictures of the quiltmaker:

Mary Gasperik probably used "McCall Printed Pattern With Transfer #74 featuring Dresden Plate and Fan Design for Quilts". One of these original patterns is in the private collection of Susan Salser. Gasperik's own copy of McCall #74, along with most of her quilting materials and patterns, did not survive.

Mary received a thank you letter from the American Red Cross dated, December 12, 1936.

Person filling out this form is:

Relative of quiltmaker; Author/researcher

If you are a relative of the quiltmaker, how are you related? The quiltmaker is my:

Grandmother

Describe the relationship to the quilt's maker:

Grand-daughter Susan Salser began this research effort in 1991, after she and her two sisters divided up the quilts which belonged to their mother (Elsie Gasperik Krueger) who died in 1988. Her ongoing research has been fruitful and interesting.

Quiltmaker's maiden name:

Mihalovits, Maria

Quiltmaker's gender:

Female

Quiltmaker's birth date:

01/25/1888

Quiltmaker's birthplace, country:

Hungary

Quiltmaker's marriage date(s):

11/18/1906

Quiltmaker's date of death:

05/25/1969

Quiltmaker's ethnic background/tribal affiliation:

Hungarian

Quiltmaker's educational background:

Elementary School

In which kind of environment did the quiltmaker live?

Rural

Quiltmaker's city:

Chicago

Quiltmaker's county:

Cook

Quiltmaker's state:

Illinois (IL)

Quiltmaker's country:

United States

Quiltmaker's father's name:

Mihalovits, Istvan

Quiltmaker's father's birthplace:

Hungary

Quiltmaker's father's ethnic/tribal background:

Hungarian

Quiltmaker's mother's name:

Mihalovits, Vidoszava

Quiltmaker's mother's birthplace:

Hungary

Quiltmaker's mother's ethnic/tribal background:

Hungarian

Quiltmaker's spouse's/spouses' and /or partner's/partners' name(s):

Gasperik, Stephen

Quiltmaker's spouse's/spouses' and/or partner's/partners' ethnic/tribal background:

Hungarian

Quiltmaker's spouse's/spouses' and/or partner's/partners' occupation:

Milk Dealer/Grocery Store Owner/Butcher

Number of children:

3

How many of the quiltmaker's children were girls?

1 (Elsie 1909-1988)

How many of the quiltmaker's children were boys?

2 (Elmer and Stephen)

How did the quiltmaker learn to quilt?

From guild or club member; Self-Taught

When did the quiltmaker learn to quilt?

Age 40-49

Why does the quiltmaker quilt?

Pleasure; Other

Other notes on how the quiltmaker learned, and how and why they quilt:

Mary Gasperik made quilts because it was her life passion and greatest talent. As opportunities arose, she entered contests and exhibited them publicly. She also made special quilts for her family.

Does/did the quiltmaker belong to a group? Name of the group?

Tuley Park Quilt Club and Detroit News Quilt Club

Does/did the quiltmaker belong to a group?

Southside Chicago and Detroit MI

What are the main activities of the group?

Chicago group met to quilt and held periodic quilt shows; Detroit group held national exhibits and contests.

Estimated number of quilts made by this quiltmaker:

more than 50

Does/did the quiltmaker sell quilts?

no

Does/did the quiltmaker teach quilting?

no

Artist statement or biography of quiltmaker or quilt group:

A Susan Salser memory: My sister Linda remembers that Mary Gasperik originally wanted to send the quilt to Pennsylvania. Mary's son-in-law, our father, Maynard C. Krueger (an economics instructor at University of Chicago and a prominent member of the American Socialist Party) persuaded her that she would do more good by raffling the quilt and sending the money to Johnstown, PA than she would by sending the actual quilt to Pennsylvania. That is evidently what she decided to do. All of us remember (from a time years later than 1936 ) that whenever grandma mentioned that someone had enquired about purchasing one of her quilts, our father would ask her to estimate just how many hours she had put into making the quilt. He would inquire about the cost of her materials. He would make (aloud) some arithmetical calculations. And then he would triumphantly - and at length - demonstrate to all family members seated around the Gasperik dining table that she was considering selling her quilts for practically nothing, when translated into hourly wages. And he would ask, of Gasperik herself, if that in fact is what she proposed to do. I think both of them were quite pleased with this exercise. She concluded that her son-in-law valued her work, which made her happy. He made sure those fair-goers who saw her quilts on display and asked to buy them from her, did not succeed in doing so. He was also giving his own daughters a demonstration of the practical uses of arithmetic, instructing them in how to go about forming a value system and (subliminally) registering the importance of meaningful hourly wages. Krueger had spent some time, just a few years earlier, speech-making for labor unions and against the power of big banks in - dare I say it? – Pennsylvania. Stories such as this may well explain just how it has come to pass that a wonderful and large collection of quilts made by Mary Gasperik still remains with family members.

Who photographed this quilt?

unknown, is a family photo

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

Copyright holder:

Susan Salser

Details

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