This meme made me laugh yesterday when I read it.  I know that Victorians were great collectors but I also am familiar with embroidery of that period.  After embroidery transfers were available, there didn't seem to be a single thing in the household that a woman wouldn't embroider--even the husband's slippers!

Victorian era aside, I have known people in my own family that had to add embellishments everywhere.  You probably know some too (or are one).  But I had a Great-Aunt in the coal regions that adorned her house with items that had been embroidered, crocheted or knitted.  I was always cautious in her house because everything was just so perfect and over the top even.

Which brings me to this item:

I thought it was a pretty doily or maybe an antimacassar.  You know I don't just collect textiles, I collect catalogs about textiles and sewing.  So imagine my surprise when I found the above piece in what I think might have been one of the old Hershner's catalog.  It was a toilet tank cover!  Actually I now think that this one might have been too:

After I stopped laughing, I realized that the only place I had ever seen this kind of thing was my Great-Aunt's house.  My grandmother's didn't decorate this way; in fact my Nana Betty taught me that the one thing you clean everyday is the toilet and the bathroom sink.  Having doilies to move would have been annoying to her in her quest to have the perfectly sanitary and spotless house.

My Great-Aunt also liked dolls and had this kind of thing in her bathrooms:

And while I'm at it, here's a trend we all probably remember:

What surprised me was that there are still items being made and sold for toilet tanks (look at Etsy).  I know that some of you may do this too...but having raised three boys and an impatient husband, it just never fit my lifestyle.

Anyway, so much for bathrooms.  Tomorrow is Flower Friday and if you have any flower images to share, email me at allentownquilter@gmail.com!

Have a safe and happy day!