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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 500 stamping 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 2000 stamping
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 in 1882. |
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