As a dedicated vintage rag picker (I love saying that lol!) I spend a LOT OF TIME looking for inventory for my stores. One of my favorite textiles to find are vintage bandannas. The soft cotton of a decades-old bandana that’s been used is lovely to touch, the intricate designs are amazing… this little piece of cloth packs a lot of WOW into a 22” square!
But I’m also sentimental about them- I associate them with my husband; he’s a plumbing contractor. There’s ALWAYS one in the back pocket of his pants tho he doesn’t get my Elephant brand or other rare bandanas anymore. Used as daily workwear, his often appear in the laundry with black plumbing glue, machine oil or something from a truck engine and are a challenge to clean. Luckily most of the bandanas I find have been stored clean and just need a freshening up with a quick wash/dry.
After finding & selling hundreds of these little square treasures I’ve finally noticed that blue bandanas are harder to find than red bandanas. I’ve no idea why; maybe stores simply stocked more red ones than blue or men prefer the more subtle blue color. None are Elephant Brand in this bunch but I almost swooned when I found a gently faded polka dot number. I LOVE polka dot bandanas and considered keeping it but must control my collecting urges. 🙂 Anyway, here’s my finds.
The first (top) photo is as-found, not washed yet. I had a roofing crew on the roof this weekend and it’s raining dust, shingles & debris in my yard. The second photo is of the cleaned bandanas drying on the patio along with a few floral, more feminine Rosie the Riveter-ish bandana scarves. If I haven’t melted from our Portland Oregon heatwave by Friday I’ll iron them, take pix and get ‘em listed for sale soon. They’ll either be found in my Dapper Fellas store on Etsy or her on Retromonde Vintage. Be sure to check them out!
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