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Dress - Dutch Boy and Girl Appliqué Dress; Dress - Dutch Boy and Girl
CITE THIS QUILT
QUILT INDEX RECORD
18-14-9
Description:
Dress made for granddaughters circa 1940. Appliqué motif is a 1935 Nancy Cabot pattern Dutch Boy and Dutch Girl published in Chicago Tribune.
Essay:
Mary made many dresses for her granddaughters. Susan Salser remembers them with these photos.
Dress #085 shown with others made by Mary Gasperik for her granddaughters circa 1940. Photo taken 1992 in Susan Salser's back yard.
My sisters and I wearing appliqued dresses my grandmother made for us.
In this photo, taken in our Chicago backyard in 1946, my sisters and I are with Sadie Neal, our nanny. As you can see, Gasperik also appliqued dresses for Sadie too.
My sisters and I are standing by a horse (on the Missouri farm which belonged to my father’s parents). I am standing in front and wearing a dress with an applique of the gingerbread man and the wolf. My grandmother made this dress using a pattern drawn by my mother.
Luckily we happen to have that actual cutout pattern(!)
This photo was taken at the Rosenwald Museum of Science and Industry on Chicago’s south side. It’s kind of funny, because two of us DID end up in California. My grandmother had tried to persuade grandpa to sell the store and move to California in the 1920s. Think of it, if she’d succeeded she never would have become a quilter. No Chicago World's Fair, no Sears quilt contest, no Tuley Park.
Where are the records for this quilt housed?
Mary Gasperik Legacy Project
Who documented this quilt?
Mary Gasperik Private Collection
Gasperik Legacy Project Number:
085
This is a:
Other
Describe the item:
Child's dress
Quilt's title:
Dress - Dutch Boy and Girl Appliqué Dress
Owner's name for quilt:
Dress - Dutch Boy and Girl
Brackman # or other source & #:
49.68 Applique
What color is the quilt?
Blue or Navy; Pink
Quilt's condition:
Very good/almost new
Time period:
1930-1949
When was the quilt finished?
1939-1943
Family/owner's date for quilt:
1939-1943
Date estimated by an antique dealer, quilt historian or appraiser:
1935
Who estimated the quilt's date?
Merikay Waldvogel
Further information concerning dates:
The Cabot pattern was offered in the Chicago Tribune, July 20, 1935. Gasperik's first granddaughter was born in December 1936 and the third Krueger grand-daughter was born in June 1940. The dress was probably made between 1940 and 1943.
Fiber types used to make the quilt top:
Cotton
Fabric styles used in the quilt top:
Solid/plain
Applique techniques used to make the quilt top:
Hand Applique
Can you see any knots on the front or back of the quilt?
no
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?
Gift
Why was the quilt made?
Other
Details about why the quilt was made:
a practical gift
The quilt was made to be used for:
Other
Was the quilt used for something other than what it is used for now?
clothing
Quilt is presently used as:
Keepsake/memento
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 get their materials?
Purchased new
Where did the maker find their pattern?
Commercial/Published source: Newspaper
Commercial name of the pattern for the top:
Nancy Cabot (Chicago Tribune, July 20, 1935)
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:
Nancy Cabot Dutch Boy and Girl quilt block from July 20, 1935 Chicago Tribune, in private collection of Merikay Waldvogel.
Unfortunately, there is no photograph of any of the Krueger girls wearing this dress. But the family does have a number of b&w photographs showing the girls in other Gasperik dresses and pinafores. And the family has a small collection of other clothing Gasperik made and appliqued for them (see #085a) There are two excellent 1944 b&w photos of Susan Krueger and her grandmother, both wearing appliqued dresses made by Gasperik, on the front steps of the first Krueger house in Hyde Park (at 6630 University Ave.). A photograph taken on a family vacation to visit Maynard Krueger's family farm in Missouri (~1945) shows the three girls in pinafores made by their grandmother. Visible on Susan's pinafore is an applique gingerbread man and wolf. The family still has the brown paper pattern cutouts that the girls' mother, Elsie, traced and colored (probably from a children's book), for Gasperik (private collection of Karen, Linda and Susan Krueger).
Ownership of this quilt is:
Private
Quilt owner's name:
Heirs of Elsie Krueger: Karen, Linda and Susan Krueger. Contact: Susan Salser.
Quilt owner's country:
United States
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?
Chicago, IL 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
Who photographed this quilt?
Winston Salser
Access and copyright information:
Restricted
Copyright holder:
Susan Salser
Cite this Quilt
Gasperik, Mar. Dress - Dutch Boy and Girl Appliqué Dress. 1939-1943. From Mary Gasperik Legacy Project, Mary Gasperik Private Collection. Published in The Quilt Index, https://quiltindex.org/view/?type=fullrec&kid=18-14-9. Accessed: 01/20/25
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Gallery
Gasperik 03: 1930s Quilt Pattern Sourc...
Waldvogel, Merikay
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Exhibit
The Quilts of Mary Gasperik
Salser, Susan
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Ephemera
The Quilts of Mary Gasperik
Salser, Susan
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Gasperik, Mary Quiltmaker
Mary Gasperik Legacy Project