Images(2)

Hook, Crochet

Object number2010.14.11 a-o

OriginEngland

OriginUnited States of America

OriginJapan

Mediummetal; plastic

Credit LineGift of Marilyn Di Matteis

DescriptionSet of fourteen (14) metal standard crochet hooks with carrying case. Most of the hooks have maker text on body. Blue plastic case has clear pockets for needles.Dimensions(a, c, d, e, i, k) L: 4.875
(b, j) L: 5
(f) L: 5.375
(g, l) L: 4.75
(h, n) L: 5.375
(m) L: 4.625
(o) W: 3.375 ; L: 5.5
Marks(a)
Embossed on flat area on body: "Susan 13 Bates" ; embossed on opposite side: "MADE 13 USA".

(b)
Embossed on flat area on body: "00 Boye 00" ; embossed on opposite side: "U.S.A."

(c)
Embossed on flat area on body: "1 Boye 1" ; embossed on opposite side: "U.S.A."

(d)
Engraved on bottom area of body: "X X X X 23" ; embossed on opposite side: "X X X X".

(e)
Embossed on flat area on body: "5 Boye 5" ; embossed on opposite side: "U.S.A."

(f)
Embossed on flat area on body: "Susan Bates" ; embossed on opposite side: "MADE F USA".

(g)
Embossed on flat area on body: "Milward" ; embossed on opposite side: "11".

Engraved on end: "MADE IN ENGLAND".

(h)
Embossed on flat area on body: "MADE / SIZE 5 OR F / USA" ; embossed on opposite side: "SIZE / 5 OR F / U.S.A."

(i)
Embossed on flat area on body: "SIZE 00" ; embossed on opposite side: "U.S.A."

(k)
Embossed on flat area on body: "10 Boye 10" ; embossed on opposite side: "MADE IN U.S.A."

(l)
Embossed on flat area on body: "8 HERO 8" ; embossed on opposite side: "MADE IN JAPAN".

(m)
Embossed on flat area on body: "Susan 12 Bates" ; embossed on opposite side: "MADE 12 USA".

(n)
Embossed on flat area on body: "Susan Bates" ; embossed on opposite side: "MADE G USA".

(o)
Pressed into back twice: "J-TEMP / BRAND / DRI-KIT".
Historical NotesThis set of lacemaking crochet hooks were used by the donor Marilyn Di Matteis' grandmother and the donor's mother, Elvira Di Matteis, both of whom were very prolific at crochet. The hooks were bought at a local department store. Part of a collection that represents three generations of donor Marilyn Di Matteis' family of Italian Americans in the Western Pennsylvania area. Her father was born in the United States, went back to Italy, and then returned as a young teenager in the mid-1920s. His family stayed behind in Italy. He had a very difficult relationship with his father and revered his mother. The donor's mother (Elvira Martinelli) was born in Italy and came to the United States as a young girl, though she was never naturalized until the late 1940s. Her family settled in Dennison, Ohio, to work on the railroads but moved south to Weirton, West Virginia. The railroad work as not particularly constant, so other forms of work were often substituted, such as picking up vegetables in the Strip District when the train stopped in Pittsburgh and selling them in West Virginia to neighbors. The family also had a farm at various points in their lives. The young couple married in 1934 in West Virginia and bought a farm in the 1940s.

Previous owner Elvira Di Matteis (died 2009)

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