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The Girl Power Behind Antique Embroidered Samplers
Never underestimate the potential of a child to touch the world
Girl power! What can giggle-box girls do? Turns out, a lot.
Growing up in Ohio, at four, I embroidered. My mother taught me. I outline stitched orange poppies with black French-knot anthers atop stamens. At around the same age, up north in Detroit, Carol Huber also learned to embroider. A favorite treat for Carol was a trip to Kresge’s topped off with the reward of an embroidery kit. Once home, she’d embroider the blue lines of the pattern stamped on the heavy fabric. I grew up to use my needle skills as a physician. Carol grew up to own, with her husband Stephen Huber, The Huber Gallery in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. The preeminent antique shop is dedicated to samplers and other school girl embroideries. The Hubers are sought-after by museums, collectors, auction houses, and historical associations for their expertise. I recently enjoyed speaking with Carol.
Samplers originated, in the time before printing presses, as references for embroidery stitches. Around 1650 they morphed into a tool for girls to learn, practice, and show off their needlework skills, skills necessary for running a home as a wife and mother. This practice blossomed until about 1850 when girls’ lives transformed by industrialization. Public schools, with a curriculum shared…
