Floss Find

Here's another Country Store Boutique purchase, $3.00.

Now that's a pile of embroidery floss. And I don't even embroider anymore! But the kit and caboodle called, "Take me home!" and I didn't resist. I used to do counted cross stitch all the time and the patterns were set up for DMC. I have lots and lots of DMC still stored in the sewing room.

But this... I had no idea there were so many different brands! From left to right:
Thread for cloth (Mexico), Periluster (England), DMC (France), Royal Society, Royal, Silklene, Star, JP Coats (USA), Coats and Clark (USA) and Bucilla. I've searched the Internet for clues to the possible age of this collection, but couldn't find anything definite. There are a lot of listings on eBay, but they mostly say 'vintage'. One listing said Periluster and Royal Society threads were 'prewar' but it didn't say *which* war!

I ask myself why I collect this stuff. There's no clear answer. It feels like a subtle connection with the past. Somewhere, at sometime, another woman sat down with her floss box and pulled out her stitching. Maybe she was a new mother grabbing a few minutes of calm before the baby woke up. Or maybe she was older and couldn't do the physical things she used to anymore; but she could stitch a pretty sampler or a keepsake for a loved one. Either way, I feel like I have something in common with her.