Over towel

An overhand towel is a decoratively decorated towel that is hung up like a curtain and is used to cover other towels, cleaning rags or even smaller utensils that hang on hooks behind the overhand towel.

Usually a special holder is used for this, in which a crossbar is attached in front of a hook bar, which is used to attach the overhand towel. The overhand towel often has a sewn " tunnel " through which the removable rod can be pushed for this purpose . Brackets attached to sliding curtain rings on the rod are also used.

Overhand towels became fashionable in the second half of the 19th century and enjoyed great popularity until after the Second World War. They were often women or young girls as handicraft made and formed part of the dowry . Often they were decorated with braids and lace, mostly also embroidered. Here were proverbs , plants or pure ornaments (for example in the Art Nouveau ) popular. Often the decoration related to household and kitchen topics, as overhand towels (often combined with matching wall hangings, curtains or tablecloths) were usually attached in the kitchen. In this respect, their representations and sayings also reflect the understanding of roles at that time, in that taking care of the household was seen as a typically female task and the ideal of the "good housewife" was presented as particularly desirable. Well-known sayings on overhand towels from this topic are, for example, "Your own stove is worth gold!" or "The good housewife diligently cooks her husband's favorite dish."

After the Second World War, overhand towels with printed designs or slogans were also produced. In the 1980s, overhand towels and their holders turned into popular antiques , and they can still be found in some kitchens today and are also manufactured from scratch.

literature

• Martin Wendl / Detlef Marschall: Great-grandmother's body and kitchen linen (fun collecting) , Rudolstadt 1985.