Thread of connection…to a past era

Today I used the last of a spool of pale green mercerized cotton thread that’s been in my sewing drawer for about half a century. I was about to throw it out when it dawned on me that thread has not been sold on wooden spools in a very long time. Delving into the depths of the drawer, I found more wooden spools of mercerized cotton. This collection of thread was given to me by a friend, Alvina, who probably bought them at Dressew.

When she and her husband Tom ran a shop of West Fourth Avenue called Central Africa Imports, I used to sew for them. Alvina cut out long loose dresses from Dutch Java prints, and I sewed them. She supplied matching thread for each garment from her vast collection of colours. After she retired, she gave me some of her supply. Here they are — tenuous threads that connect me to long-ago times.