Exploring American material culture of the past with a hands-on approach.
Meet your Blogger
Hello history buffs, crafters, sifters, and restless wanderers through time! I’m Kate, a blogger and life-long lover of “neat” objects, pastimes, and stories of the humble folks who came before me.
Image: 18th century working-class ensemble. All principal garments hand sewn by me.
… large and small undressed Dolls, sprigged and striped Handkerchiefs, a great assortment…
Virginia Gazette, October 1771 (emphasis added)
Origin of the Blog Name
Why is this blog called “Sprigged & Spotted”?
I love a good wordplay and appreciate antiquated language.
“Sprigged” and “spotted” are eighteenth century terms for printed fabrics, sometimes found in newspaper advertisements of American colonial merchants. In their place today, we might use “floral” or “polka-dotted.” The terms also invoke growth and observation, two pillars of this blog and my personal ethos.
Image: Detail of Public Domain image of 18th century textile samples via Metmuseum.org.
Find more of my work at my Vintage Postcard Blog
Since 2016, I have also been sharing tidbits from a particular niche of historical ephemera on a blog called Lost Greetings. If you enjoy oddly specific explorations and unique stories of snapshots in time, please spend some time over reading and learning from my collection of mailed postcards. The cards span the early 20th century through the 1980s, with many from the WWII era.
