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Waldvogel Ephemera Collection


In 1992, Merikay Waldvogel acquired a major collection of quilt ephemera compiled by round robin pattern collector, Mildred Dickerson of Birmingham, AL. In the 1960s-1980s, Mildred spearheaded a nationwide network of women who shared ephemera they came upon by tracing (or photocopying) original pieces and mailing them to fellow collectors. Acting as archivists, they indexed and documented the patterns. Some women created lists for themselves while others sold pattern reprints or edited newsletters. Their goal was to compile the most comprehensive catalog of quilt patterns, not unlike what the Quilt Index is designed to do. Dickerson’s handwritten notations sometimes appear on the scanned items. 

The selected catalogs, published in the early 1930s, contain information on quilt patterns as well as quilt kits. They are also a rich resource of information on how quilts were made, what fabrics and colors were preferred, and what they cost. Some of the companies were used to producing fancy work designs such as embroidery, tatting, and crochet. It is interesting to see how they re-worked their catalog offerings to include quilts. The one embroidery catalog from 1889 is inserted as a comparison which included Crazy Quilt layouts while maintaining their emphasis on embroidery stitches.

Notice also how the companies portray an old-fashioned, some might call it "colonial" image, while trying to reach the busy, modern women. Companies used women with fictitious names to speak directly to the customers. Nancy Lee, Virginia Snow, Grandma Dexter, and Grandmother Clark are not real people. Mary McElwain, however, was a real person whose quilt shop in the Southeastern corner of Wisconsin sold quilt patterns, quilt kits, and finished quilts.

McElwain's quilts appeared not only in her 1936 Romance of the Village Quilts [scanned], but also in BOAG Quilts [scanned], Rock River Cotton Co. pattern sheets [scanned], and the Lockport Batting Co. pattern sheets [scanned]. Notice on the Rock River Cotton Co. patterns there is a "1934 patent pending notice." Mountain Mist batting was sold with a free pattern printed on the inside of the batting wrapper and the parent company had received a patent for the idea. Rock River Cotton Co. may have had to do something different to match the free pattern for a roll of batting.

Notice also how the templates and quilting designs are handled. It is still tricky to fit a 12-inch template illustration on a page of paper or even on the computer monitor. Look especially at the "Martha Washington" patterns, most of which are appliqué. Although the templates for the appliqué components were too big to scan, read the instructions and see if you can figure out how to begin this quilt project. And finally, look for quilts in the Quilt Index that match these primary sources.


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  • Legacy

    Waldvogel Legacy Project, Merikay

  • Collection

    Waldvogel Ephemera Collection

    Waldvogel, Merikay

  • Gallery

    Sears Quilt Contest 02: The Grand Priz...

    Waldvogel, Merikay

  • Gallery

    Sears Quilt Contest 03: First Place Wi...

    Waldvogel, Merikay

  • Gallery

    Sears Quilt Contest 04: Second and Thi...

    Waldvogel, Merikay

  • Gallery

    Sears Quilt Contest 05: Century of Pro...

    Waldvogel, Merikay

  • Gallery

    Sears Quilt Contest 06: Commemorative ...

    Waldvogel, Merikay

  • Gallery

    Sears Quilt Contest 07: Folk Rendition...

    Waldvogel, Merikay

  • Gallery

    Sears Quilt Contest 11: Impact of the ...

    Waldvogel, Merikay

  • Gallery

    Sears Quilt Contest 09: Familiar 1930s...

    Waldvogel, Merikay

  • Gallery

    Sears Quilt Contest 10: Kit Quilts in ...

    Waldvogel, Merikay

  • Gallery

    Sears Quilt Contest 12: Other Sears Co...

    Waldvogel, Merikay

  • Ephemera

    Mildred Dickerson: A Quilt Pattern Col...

    Waldvogel, Merikay

  • Ephemera

    The Origin of Mountain Mist Patterns

    Waldvogel, Merikay