Dating your Vintage Tablecloth Collection

Tablecloth design, like any other fashion art form, reflected existing tastes and styles of the period. We can use the records of these fashions and moods to generally determine dates. Although in some cases the tablecloths can be assigned to a general decade, as I have done in my book, or even to a specific group of years, the lack of manufacturing records or other cataloguing of these delightful keepsakes makes assigning any one date extremely difficult. For my book, I researched the history of the dyes, copyright & trademark records and poured over vintage catalogs to come up the a “quick reference summary” to help you date your tablecloths. .

Quick Reference Summary

Victorian: 1840 – 1899

• • • Turkey Red
      Dark crimsons, maroons, browns, gold colors
      Velvets
      Felted table covers
      Rich tapestries
      Home spun textiles (uneven weaves, fringes)
      Wavy undulating stripes, “snake like designs”
      Delicate hand worked, drawn work, bobbin lace, or embroidered tablecloths

Art Nouveau: 1900

• • • Deep wine color
      Turkey Red damasks
      Crisp Linen damasks
      Browns
      Dark cheddar yellow
      Green, purple were fugitive dyes
      Good luck symbols
      Dice
      Doves
      Hearts, ribbons, bows
      Hand worked designs

World War I: 1910s

• • • Colonial early Americana
      Flowers
      Long haired girls
      Stylized floral
      Oriental themes
      Pastel colors
      One directional designs
      Stamped designs one color on linen
      Turkey Red damasks without fringe

Art Deco: 1920s

• • • • More use of pastel colors
        No “true” greens were possible, but light sage was possible
        Colors in opposites of the color wheel
        Lighter color red
        Increase in number of printed colors (2 or more)
        Designs are larger and usually in the corners
        Cocktail party themes
        Egyptian themes
        Aztec themes
        Oriental themes
        Damask and cotton tablecloths with colored striped borders

The Depression: 1930s

• • • Home yard goods fabrics.
      Repeating patterns across the fabric
      Homemade feedsack tablecloths
      Small 31″ squares “breakfast cloths”
      Bright, clear, multi-color prints up to three colors
      Colors opposite the color wheel, i.e., orange/blue, orange/green, purple/yellow
      Red/white floral designs with green leaves. First use of true “color fast” green around 1935
      Florals with flowing ribbon designs
      Lily of the Valley, cottage roses
      Larger “groupings” of florals in corners
      Large areas of grinning/shadowing around motifs
      Linen tablecloths with wide plaid edges
      Increase in “imports” from Japan, Checklosvakia, Ireland
      Vat Dyed,Merchanized terms used

World War II: 1940s

• • • Use of terms hand printed, Made in America, Color Fast, Sanfordized
      OPA” Office of Price Administration price sticker (1942-1947)
      ;Florals, specially Roses, Dogwoods, cherry blossoms, Tulips
      Tropical
      Berries
      Use of the term “Screen printed”
      4+ color combinations
      1946: Delicate shading in designs, more “realistic” three dimensional designs
      <indent>Ethnic themes, Mexican, Black Americana, Indian, Oriental
      Garden, vegetables designs
      Farm themes
      Cute children, people themes
      Western themes
      State souvenir tablecloths in larger sizes with coordinating napkins
      Coordinating dinnerware pattern tablecloths
      Hall “Autumn Leaf” (1937- 1957)
      Blue Willow
      Russell Wright
      Rayon/Cotton “blends”

Prosperity: 1950s

Continuation of 1940s designs but with richer colors and patterns
Use of kitchen themes, dishes, bottles, spices
Food themes
Whimsical funny designs
More use of bold synthetic dyes
Metallic dyes, especially gold and silver
Metallic threads running throughout
Synthetic fabrics
Rayon
Polyester
Black outlined designs
“Kitchey” quirky, fun prints
Exaggerated florals and bold geometric designs
Modern, Space age
Heavy Danish/Swedish influence
1958: Tags were sewn in
1958: Percentage of fibers in fabrics labeled, Ex: %20 rayon %80 Cotton.
Circles, squares and other geometric shapes
Designer “signed” tablecloths