These delicate handkerchiefs were sent to my maternal grandmother, Helen F Coyle, in November 1918 by Private
Herman L. Englander: HQrs Co. 358th Infantry: Amr. Exp. Forces, France. He wrote to my grandmother from France, asking to see her once he returned to New York City. I do not know if they did see each other but he was not the man she did marry in 1921. However, she did save these precious items all her life. They are now so fragile that you can almost see through the fabric.
They are beautiful. I find it really interesting that she didn't marry the man who sent these to her and yet she kept them through the years. Do you have any sense that he was "the one" and her heart was broken? But, some people are just savers....
ReplyDeleteGorgeous lace and embroidery . . . what lovely, sentimental keepsakes. What happened to him after the war, do you know?
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