Hooks with a History

Check it out: I have new toys! So, if you saw the post about the Holly Holiday Table Runner, then you know I was at Mom and Dad's house to take the pictures of it (as well as the old Lacy Fall Table Runner). I gave them the new table runner, but I didn't come home empty-handed: I scored some crochet goodies! And these are vintage crochet goodies... Oooo!

Please bear with a bit of confusion in this history, for I have trouble keeping everything straight when Mom's telling me the story as I'm distracted by the sight of their "white panther" staring at me through the door, the TV's on, and I'm suffering from heavy metal and coffee withdrawals...

A long, long time ago, my great-granny, or maybe my mom's great-granny was doing something... She cleaned houses, took in laundry, helped take care of sick people, took food to the poor... So, she was doing some kind of nice thing for somebody as usual, and they happened to hear that my mom (16 or so at the time) was trying to teach herself how to knit. They sent over a how-to or a pattern book and a set of needles.

I scored those needles and more a long time ago when I was trying to teach myself to knit. After the lady passed away, her family gave all of her needlework stuff to my mom. And then my mom gave it to me when I started knitting. So, I learned (and promptly forgot) how to knit on vintage needles; cool! I really should get back into knitting...

Anyway... You may or may not have heard the partial story of my vintage Hero hook. That was in a case with some cable holders, another rusty hook, and other stuff that Mom told me to keep, even though I wasn't crocheting yet or knitting cables. I've been trying to dig up some history on the Hero hook forever, and can't really find any solid information. I also can't find any hook exactly like it. So, I thought maybe Mom could fill in a little of the story, and perhaps owned the rest of its mates. What I got wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but I got a partial history, more mystery, and more vintage!

The history that we know is pretty much what I already told you. Some lady gave them to my mom when she was a teenager. So, since the original owner was pretty vintage herself, I have no idea how old some of this stuff could be without more research. Some of it is obviously not-so-old, but it's all way older than me! I'm going to be taking a closer look at all of them and doing some internet digging over the next few days. Since it's the holiday season, I'll break up what I find into separate posts, to keep them short. And until then, you'll just have to sit in suspense...

Happy Crocheting!