Handkerchief, Kerchief, Neckerchief ...

[Billy-o]

Part three of an ongoing series of pointless yet philosophically significant ponderings about such of life's essentials as baseball caps and pocket spoons, and well, whatever fundamental comes next:

I just came back from running about with the dog. En route, I passed a shop having a sale, and managed to pick up eight linen napkins for five dollars. Off-white, square and nice and light.

They are a bit big at 20". So, when I have a moment, I will trim some of them down to more manageable 'kerchief size.

A linen hanky is a relatively recent reprise in my life. One thing I know is that a standard breast-pocket pocket square is too small at 10" - 12". But, the question then remains how big is the right size?

At their current 20" they are ideal to be worn cowboy-style across one's nose and mouth like John Hardy robbing the Glendale Train . Large enough to go down into your collar to keep dust and bugs out. Also, you can wear that size on your head. Yes, silly looking for some of us, but very effective in the sun. Either way, sadly, 20" is perhaps too big for trouser pocket carry (or a Gumby, come to think of it).

One wants it to be generous and flourishable, but neither too bulky or too stingy looking, one supposes. So how big is that?

 

[Toddy]

16" is a standard sized good quality gents linen hankie. 12" for a lady's......20" is usually a napkin....not one of the huge ones for posh, but for afternoon tea/ light dinner type.

On t'other hand, a 20" square of fine linen makes an awfully useful sized neckerchief when it's blooming hot. Just soak it in water, wring out and wrap around your thrapple
Also big enough to knot all four corners and wear as a kind of skull protector...or fold into a doorag.....or to gather fruit, etc., to carry tidily.
I admit that I dyed mine green though

Eight linen napkins for five dollars is a bargain !
Last time I bought a set they cost me £12 each, and that was in the sale.

M

 

[Billy-o]

A bargain, yes, I now know ... my other half has just seen them

I have a feeling there is a gizzit in the wind ....

I have been looking at lots of linen recently ... towels, shirts etc. It is getting cheaper, possibly. I always regarded linen as a great luxury in the past, but places like Linenme and Linenshed have brought prices right down. Well, I think so, I mean I scarcely looked at prices in the past, just assumed they were out of reach.

My friend's mother lives in Co. Down and is a great shopper and scourer of secondhand stores, sales of all kinds. She holds the equivalent of a museum of early C20th linen goods ...

I am developing a desire for a big grey linen scarf ... the modern equivalent of a hitchhiker's towel

 

[Macaroon]

I carry a hanky always with me, done it since I was a gipper. Mine are cotton though, I can't run to linen I'm afraid, not for every day use. I get them @ 20" square and they are ideal for all the uses mentioned above, smaller and they won't do so well.

I fold them flat and lay them inside my front left trouser pocket, that way I don't even know they're there until I need them.

I'd feel naked and forlorn without at least one such hanky about me, they just have so many uses just like a small shemagh, one of which I also carry without fail in my daybag.

 

[oldtimer]

In my boy scout days BP required two handkerchiefs in the pocket. I have long since altered this to two bandanas. One always in the pocket, the other in the pack: both 20 inches square. The second pocket handkerchief is now replaced by a packet of tissues - unknown in post-war England.

Outdoor sites often run posts such as "how many used can you think of for a bandanna?" I find them mildly interesting .

 

[Billy-o]

Partly, it is opting out of the post-war paper tissue that has got me carrying a hanky again.

 

[Tengu]

I wear one most days these days, keeps you warm in the cold; and in this weather soaked in water makes it bearable.

(Though makes bandana look manky...)

Mine are just old cotton ones; a design for every occiasion.

 

[santaman2000]

I carry a bandana style handkerchief with me (the standard size here seems to be 22 inches though) I tried wearing them but they're somewhat small on my 19 inch neck. If you really want to wear something (and it's useful for other things such as a sling, to gather berries in, etc) a thin cotton or linen scarf or a shemaugh is a good choice.

 

[TinkyPete]

I carry an army sweat rag at all times, and also a bandanna or handkerchief the sweat rag i keep in my bag the bandanna in my pocket. I find them both useful for a lot of things. the sweat rag is long and thin but great as a cooling wrap in this weather.

The old adage, one for show and one to blow, is often used as well with hay-fever

 

[Janne]

I carry those handy paper snott tissues.
Quickly biodegradable. No washing.
Can double up as toilet paper. Weigh very little!

Not those with Aloe Vera od cream infused, as they seem to be less efficient as toilet paper.

 

[Billy-o]

Yes, the far better method is to use something coarse and abrading (like coir) to get all the debris out, then apply a non-scented handcream to the relevant portion

 

[Janne]

Coir carpet offcuts?

 

[pteron]

I like a tenugui - https://www.tofugu.com/japan/tenugui/ they are traditional Japanese hand towels, about 90cm by 35cm. I picked up a couple in Tokyo, my favourite is one that has a tatami pattern on it:

 

[Macaroon]

That's an interesting read about tenugu, entirely new to me; thanks, excellent stuff

 

[oldtimer]

That's an interesting read about tenugu, entirely new to me; thanks, excellent stuff

New to me too. Thanks for posting.

 

[Billy-o]

That is about the right size for a towel, that tenugu. What’s it made of, Pteron?

 

[pteron]

It's cotton. It's big for a pocket, but I don't mind. I managed to delete the last i in the name adding the URL - just fixed it!

In times past, restaurants didn't provide napkins, people carried their own. It was also a tradition to wrap gifts in tenugui and to give visitors a tenugui when they came to eat at your house. It has a fascinating past!

The kamawanu shop in Shinjuku mentioned in the article is where I bought mine - spent a couple of hours umming over which ones to get, so many to choose from! https://kamawanu.co.jp/shop/daikanyama.html

 

[Billy-o]

Thanks

I am a complete sucker for Japanese design

 

[pteron]

Oh me too. I'd move to Tokyo in a heart beat, fascinating culture and people.

Up until last year I went three times a year, loved it. Drooled over the 20k katanas... the shop was 5 mins from our office.

My team loved to take me out to the weirdest places - fish eyeballs, rare chicken, live sushi, you name it.

 

[Billy-o]

It still figures in our plans .. a few years in Japan. We are pretty much itinerants and a heavily crowded city is just what we like. A friend of ours over time her daughter developed a fetich for Japan. Liked the cartoons, then decided to learn Japanese at the local cultural centre, then aged 16 applied to Hokkaido Uni and got in. So, off she went still aged 17 to Japan on her Jack Jones. Having a lovely time by the sound of it.