Doilies debate

[Miss USA]

So while I was camping last week, I worked nonstop on doilies. My entire family was there, every day each one would walk by at whatever time of the day, and ask: "Your still working on that doily???" (like Im wonder woman or something)

Well, the topic one night around the campfire came to, "WHY ARE THEY CALLED DOILIES"???

My father, being the brain of the family, knowing countless amounts of useless information, but also known for being a smart alec, stated that:

Doilies started back in the Colonial era when the men wore grease and powder in their wigs. To keep it off the fancy furniture, the peasants were hired to crochet doilies to cover the backs of the chairs and soak up the oil, these were originally called "DE-OILIES"

get it? DEE-OILY? HAW HAW DAD.

None of us really believed him, and I wanted to look it up myself to find out really how they got such a silly name. To my suprize, my father actually used the right name! (And how funny is Baron of Hook:haha) Here's what I found:

 

Robert D'Oilly, Baron of Hook Norton.

Incidentally, this Robert was given his Barony on condition that he gave the king three shillings' worth of linen table-cloths per year. Since lace making was one of the specialities of the region, and because Robert wanted to show off, these table-cloths were beautifully embroidered by the D'Oilly ladies, and were reserved by the king's household for great occasions. They were known as "D'Oilly's linen".

But, by the nineteenth century, these "doilies" had shrunk to fussy plate-sized circles of lace. Three bob didn't go as far as the old days.

[pinkroses]

I had read that in one of my books. but not the last story. Now that was interesting. I like to make them.PINKROSES.

[Wendy79]

But "antimacassars" (those doilies that hang over the backs of chairs and sofas) really DID get their name as in your dad's story, which is probably where he got the idea from (that's a pretty good one!). Men used to wear Macassar Oil in their hair, hence "antimacassar", to protect the upholstery.

 

Sigh. I love to make them, too, but I never know what to do with them.

[Miss USA]

haha silly pa

[Roli]

That's fascinating! I always wondered about that name. Thanks for clearing up a few things.

[jenksie]

I have actually heard someone else give the same reason as your father. How do people like your father learn off of that stuff?

[CrochetCatskills]

Thank you for sharing that, it was very interesting.