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Old Floss


Here is a started project I purchased at a White Elephant Sale.  There's not much to look at right now.
But, the stitched area will be about 2 by 3 inches and contain a flower arrangement.

The instructions are not dated.  The paper is yellowed.  Nothing appears to have been computer generated.  The newest book in the bibliography was published in 1976 so the pattern must be newer than that date.

The big clue to age comes from some of the floss in the kit.


The first and third skeins are from my collection the rest are from the kit.  Notice the top and bottom edge of the labels - they are black not gold.  The lettering is also bigger.  But, the differences are subtle.



Not so much the bottom half - the new labels are much longer.  Instead of just the basic information, there is now a bar code, web address and the universal care symbols.  100% cotton appears in many languages (at least I assume it translates to 100% cotton).

The big difference is that the labels changed from paper to plastic at some point.  The first skein has a plastic label (note the reflections) while the third is still paper.

All my life plastic has slowly replacing paper for packaging.  Each time that happens I am saddened.

Back to the kit.  I am ready to start stitching flowers but I'm trying to wait until I get a few other pieces finished first.  It's difficult, the flowers all calling ...
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  1. Aurelia EglantineMarch 26, 2011 at 4:16 PM

    Sounds like it'll be a lovely project when you get it finished! I know what you mean about the paper and the plastic. I have some older skeins myself, and you can really see the difference. I think that the paper lasted up until the mid-1990s, and then the bar codes came on the scene.

    It makes a difference in how they're rung in at the cash too; before, you just told them the number of skeins you had, and now they have to scan each individually for the unique colour numbers. I know it helps with inventory, but it can take a while when you're buying a fair bit at a time. It's funny to think that while the threads will eventually degrade the little plastic labels will outlast them in the dump somewhere, isn't it?

    Spring always calls out for flowers to me :) Best of luck with your new-to-you project!

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