Owner : Elizabeth Baumann

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Item Name	Show Towel	Image1 Image2 Image3 Image4 Image5 Image6 Image7
Other Owner(s)	Nil
Category	Artifacts
Year	Early: 1840 - Late: 1840
Description	White linen show towel is embroidered with crosstitch in wool, linen and cotton. It bears traditional Pennsylvania-German motifs: eight-point star, distelfinks, stylized carnations, peacocks, tulip tree, branched tree, with "O E H B D D E", (standing for 'O edel Herz Bedenk dein End' - ' O Noble Heart, Consider thine end'). The top edge is folded back and embroidered with pink and blue crosstitch: "ELIZABETH BAUMAN". Panel of drawn work extends from bottom of linen, bearing design of two hearts flanking a central diamond motif. There is a double fringe on each end. Dated 1840.
Collection	Doon Heritage Crossroads Contact : 10 Huron Rd. Kitchener 519-748-1914 www.region.waterloo.on.ca/doon
Accession No.	1967.036.001
References	Burnham, Keep Me Warm One Night, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1972, plate 162, p. 122. Family Records of the Descendants of Pioneer Joseph Bauman, St. Jacobs: St. Jacobs Printery, 1967, p. 13. Ellen Gehret, This Is the Way I Pass My Time: A Book About Pennsylvania German Decorated Hand Towels, Birdsboro, Penna.: Pennsylvania German Society, 1985.
Curatorial Comments	Primarily a Mennonite tradition in Ontario, show towels were rarely found outside areas of Canada that were not settled by people of this religion. Versions of this art form may be found in Hutterite settlements. Embroidered show towels made by women of all ages flourished only in Waterloo County and around Markham. Lincoln County was less frequent. Although the Pennsylvania-Dutch folk culture produced numerous and finely worked examples of show towels, they are not unique to that culture. They stem from mainstream German culture with borrowings or adaptations from other European cultures, and when brought to Pennsylvania with Germanic immigration of the eighteenth (mostly) century, further developed as a folk art form, somewhat in isolation. Narrative from CHIN Valentine History exhibit: Show towels in the Pennsylvania German tradition of Waterloo County were often made by young Mennonite women when they married. The show towel was made for display, placed over an everyday utilitarian hand towel, or hung on a door, when company came to call. Elizabeth Bauman's show towel is dated 1840. On it, traditional symbols such as eight-point stars, birds, and tulips are placed in highly symmetrical arrangements. With these are two versions of the heart symbol, one cross-stitched and the other in drawn thread work. The cross-stitched heart is surrounded by an admonition concerning human mortality, a motif often seen in Pennsylvania German folk art. Initials O E H B D D E (O Edel Herz Bedenk Dein Ende: O Noble Heart, Consider Thy End) are cautionary, inciting the reader to remember that the course of life is uncertain. The second version of the symbol suggests both romance and commitment. A pair of drawn work hearts worked above the bottom fringe symbolizes the joining of two hearts (lives) in marriage. The hearts flank a lozenge or cornerstone motif, implying faith and stability in the married union.

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