Collection of 30 "Little quilt hands I made, 1931-1932"

30 “heart in hand“ and woven paper heart love tokens, 2.5-6.5 inches in length each. Cut from personal correspondence (postmarks and writing often visible), small pieces of hand-printed decorative papers, and cut-outs from books. Collected in a handkerchief box with Ida’s writing on the bottom, Little quilt hands I made, 1931-1932. Ida Shank, Jane’s Grandma Shank

Ida Jane Shank (née Strickler) was born in Virginia on December 8, 1847, married carpenter Peter Shank ca. 1870, and bore 10 children through the 1890s, 7 of whom survived to the new century. After the death of her husband, Ida lived with her son Henry, who owned a furniture store—and who may have had sample books of the fancy paper these were made with, otherwise an unlikely expense in the Great Depression. Per the inscription under the box, this collection of tokens would have been among Mrs. Shank's twilight occupations—she died on November 10, 1932.