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Florence LaGanke Harris, aka Nancy Page


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Florence LaGanke was photographed on November 14, 1933 announcing her as one of three judges for The Detroit News Quilt Show held November 17-19, 1933.

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On October 22, 1933, The Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, NY announced the French Bouquet pattern to be published on Sundays. The illustration of a lady holding the coming quilt is a hallmark of the Nancy Page designs. The patterns were printed full-size and many women clipped and saved them.

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On January 2, 1934, Edith B. Crumb, Detroit News Quilt Club Corner editor, is seen posed like the Nancy Page illustration announcing the Old-Time Nosegay pattern in The Detroit News, readers had to write in for the full-size pattern. Although the Old-Time Nosegay patterns did not appear under the Nancy Page byline, they are identical to the French Bouquet pattern. LaGanke was syndicated by The Detroit Free Press, so rebranding the pattern allowed her to sell to two different papers in the same market. The Detroit Free Press carried many of the Nancy Page quilt series, but did not carry the French Bouquet.

Florence Mae LaGanke Harris (1886-1972)
Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Florence La Ganke studied home economics at Pratt Institute, Columbia University and Western Reserve University. She taught at Teachers College of Columbia University in New York City, and for a time, was director of the Home Economics Department for the Oakland, California public schools.

As Home Economics editor of the Cleveland (OH) Plain Dealer, in 1927, she launched a syndicated column simply titled “Nancy Page” focusing on food, diet, child care and sewing. The column was designed as a weekly gathering of friends to discuss various topics. Quilt history and quilt patterns became an oft-requested subject. Eventually the column became: The Nancy Page Quilt Column. 

Her first quilt feature “Grandmother’s Garden” was a series of 25 pieced basket patterns designed with an applique floral bloom atop each basket. A basket or flower block appeared weekly on Sundays with this one lasting several months. Her column appeared in several newspapers across the nation.

Florence LaGanke’s later series patterns included: "Alphabet," "Brother-Sister Quilt," "Crossed Arrows," "Festoon," "French Bouquet," "Garden Bouquet," "Laurel Wreath," "The Leaf," "Magic Vine," "Old Almanac," "Quilt of Many Stars," "Snowflake," "Star and Sprig," and "Wreaths." Interspersed with the ongoing series patterns, La Ganke added traditional quilt blocks which ran in many newspapers on Tuesdays. The single-column feature included a block illustration and a discussion with club members about the block history, what fabrics to choose, etc.

Although her name may not be as well-known as the title character of her Nancy Page column, Florence LaGanke played a major role in the 1930s quilt revival by introducing a new generation of quiltmakers to the joys of quiltmaking with a writing style that endeared her to her audience. Ann Kerven, a fashion illustrator, worked with La Ganke to produce the syndicated series from 1927 to the mid-1940s.
 
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Ann Kerven's logo as seen on a Nancy Page illustration.

Bertha Stenge, one of the 20th century’s most decorated quiltmakers, made her first quilt using the Nancy Page “Grandmother’s Flower Garden” series of patterns published in her local newspaper The Chicago Evening American in 1929.

Another famous Chicago quiltmaker, Mary Gasperik, known for reworking patterned quilts and kit quilts, incorporated elements of the Nancy Page “Laurel Wreath” and “French Bouquet” series in three bed-size quilts.

Round robin pattern collectors of the 1970s-80s were particularly keen on collecting original newspaper clippings of each Nancy Page series. Barbara Brackman introduced Nancy Page to the Bicentennial-era quilters through her monthly column in Quilters Newsletter Magazine. Eleanor Burns and her Quilt in a Day business published Nancy Page’s “Magic Vine” Quilt. Eleanor often took on the persona of Nancy Page in her very popular quilt lectures. 

LaGanke’s renown reached beyond the quilt world into the field of Home Economics.  She wrote textbooks: The Home Economics Omnibus (1935) and Everywoman’s Complete Guide to Homemaking (1938). She also wrote cookbooks: Flavor’s the Thing (1939), Food n Fun for the Invalid (1942), and Pies a Plenty (1949).

In 2022, Florence LaGanke Harris was inducted into The Quilters Hall of Fame, https://quiltershalloffame.net/florence-laganke-harris/.

By Merikay Waldvogel, July 20, 2022.


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  • Documentation Project

    Michigan Quilt Project

    Michigan State University

  • Legacy

    Waldvogel Legacy Project, Merikay

  • Legacy

    Gasperik Legacy Project, Mary

  • Documentation Project

    Lebanon County Quilt Documentation Project

    Lebanon Quilters Guild

  • Ephemera

    Our Blue Ribbon Quilt

    Harris, Florence LaGanke

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