Ribbon

Title

Ribbon

Description

12 paperboard cards wrapped with handmade Chinese ribbon and 3 paper envelopes. The ribbon was made at East Gate Christian Industrial School in Foochow China. Some of the ribbon cards are relatively unused and still wrapped with the original paper which reads "Send orders to Miss E.S. Hartwell Foochow China Miss Sarah Averill 14 King St. Worcester Mass." These cards also contain a b&w image of children weaving with the caption "Warranted Hand Woven". The ribbon tapes are approximately 1/4" wide. A. Green and black ribbon with bat design. Excellent condition with original papers intact. The front of the card shows six stripes of ribbon with black printing showing between each strip of ribbon on the paper behind. At the top is "East Gate Christian Industrial School". The second row of printing reads "Foochow China". The third is a row of 10 Chinese characters. The fourth a row of 8 Chinese characters. The fifth reads "Send orders to Miss E.S. Hartwell Foochow China". The sixth "Miss Sarah Averill 14 King St. Worcester Mass." And the bottom row of printing reads "Yds. In. Price per Piece". The back of the card shows two stripes of ribbon with a black and white photograph of children making ribbon. At the bottom is printed "Warranted Hand Woven. Price per Piece" B. White silver blue and red ribbon. Good condition with original paper intact (very faded). The front of the card is similar to 1979.11A but with eight stripes of ribbon. The back of the card shows four stripes with the following text printed between the strips of ribbon on the paper behind: "Chinese Lang-gang For Chiristmas and Baby Ribbon. This Chinese Lang-gang speaks of the true Christmas spirit. It stands for the patient labor of girls and women who without this means of earning would be helpless indeed left to starvation or sale. To buy it means sending a glimpse of hope into lives otherwise hopeless for the money goes directly to those who do the work. Each time the shuttle flies the foot treads a different pedal. This picture is of girls and women at Foochow who weave the Chinese Lang-gang the Good Luck and the Rainbow Flag Ribbon. This Industrial School was opened after the Chinese Revolution of 1911 in order to give work to some of the thousands of starving Manchus whose stipends had been cut off by the close of the Manchu Dynasty. For two centuries these Manchus had been forced to remain a military class thus prevented from following the ordinary vocations of life. Their first need was to be taught to work. Hundreds have been and are being taught in this School which is under no Mission but depends on voluntary gifts and sales. Orders will be gladly received by Miss E.S. Hartwell Foochow China or Miss Sarah Averill 14 King Street Worcester Massechusetts." C. Same as 1979.11B D. Paper envelope for ribbon card with three rows of Chinese characters printed on the front in blue ink. E. " F. " G. Same as 1979.11A H. Green red black and white ribbon with bat design. Fair condition. Original papers are missing from card. Written in pencil is "9 ft.". Written in black ink is one or two Chinese characters. Also written in black ink is "E-138". I. Orange and green ribbon wrapped around a paper Christmas card. Written in pencil is "10 1/2 ft". Written in black ink is "E-138". J. Black and white ribbon with bat design. wrapped around carboard card with red top and bottom edges. May be the original card with papers removed or a replacement card. Written in pencil on one side is "10 yds" and on the other in black ink "E-138". K. Blue red white and black ribbon with bat design. Fair condition with original papers intact though faded. The front of the card is similar to 1979.11A-E with six stripes of ribbon showing. The back of the card contains the following text: "Good Luck Ribbon In China the bat is the emblem of Good Luck as the pronunciation of the written character for bat is the same as that for Happiness. The Chinese have 100 different characters for Happiness four of which are at the top of this sheet. This Good Luck Ribbon is woven by girls and women in China who are thus saved from starvation or sale. The money goes directly to those who do the work. Each time the shuttle flies the foot treads a different pedal..." The rest of the text is the same as that of A-E. L. White silver and blue ribbon the same as 1979.11B and C. The original papers have either faded completely or worn away (or perhaps there was a printing error?). The papers are blue green but there is no text printed on them. M. Identical to 1979.11B N. " O. Identical to 1979.11K.

Identifier

1979.011

Collection