They see the dignity and beauty of the makers’ lives, and they greet the objects as gifts from the past. Nevertheless, some individuals are deeply moved by these small pieces of cloth. The stereotype is that doilies covered every surface in musty, overcrowded interiors they have come to symbolize a premodern, unliberated time. Unlike quilts and other large textiles that are typically treated as important heirlooms, doilies are generally thought of as impractical “dust-collectors” made by fussy old women who had little to do with their time. Vincent de Paul thrift store in Madison, Wisconsin, containing hundreds and hundreds of handmade doilies selling for no more than a dollar apiece. Kathy later discovered each was in near perfect condition.īins at a special textile sale at the St. “Doilies,” the cashier said, “I’m not going to count these!” She charged $2.80 for twenty-seven items. She picked up the whole pile, and the cashier laughed at her when she brought them to the register. I had encountered other stories of how expendable they now seem: an antiques dealer claiming she didn’t carry them because she couldn’t make any money on their sale, a blogger (Kathy, “A Delightsome Life”) telling of her visit to a thrift shop in 2012, where she found a stack of crocheted doilies on a top shelf. I kept thinking that this store was just one among many in one city how many were there, then, in the state, the country, and beyond? Why is it that so many doilies were made in decades past and that they have almost become throwaway items now? They were jumbled together in a massive pile clearly, they were not highly valued. Vincent de Paul thrift store in Madison, Wisconsin, and found myself overwhelmed by the hundreds and hundreds of handmade doilies selling for no more than a dollar apiece.

I was digging through the bins at a special textile sale at the St.

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