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This design is an
adaptation of a wooden stamping block that my great-grandmother
used to print embroidery and rug hooking patterns. Philena
Moxley was quite unlike our idea of a Victorian lady, becoming
an entrepreneurial businesswoman in her early 20's. In 1865 she
purchased 500stamping blocks from a British man and set up a
business that flourished in the New England mill town of Lowell,
Massachusetts. Philena continued to build her business by adding
new designs until she had accumulated about 2000stamping blocks.
Customers brought her their plain fabric, which she stamped with
decorative designs for embroidering. Philena supported herself
and her sister until she married in 1880 and finally closed her
business doors in 1882. |
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