Learn about antiques and collectibles with Dr. Georgia Caraway

edges of each layer are folded under and carefully stitched until the entire design is formed Embroidery stitches may then be added to complete the design

Value is determined by small, even, almost invisible hand stitches; bold contrasting colors; and balance and harmony in form and shape Hand stitching is a key element Hurried workmanship, machine sewing, the application of rick-rack, Japanese printed fabrics with mola designs, and copies flooding the market made by others than the Kuna Indians have made this a difficult textile art upon which to place a value Generally in the marketplace, depending on size and design, molas sell for between $10 and $100 and antique shops Howe Mercantile, Texas Home Emporium, and Stark Farms Gifts SHOP LOCAL We can show you Howe!

MARK YOUR CALENDAR:

April 8 is the date for the Annual BBQ and Auction for the Save the Church restoration project If you wish to donate to the auction, please bring your item(s) to Howe Mercantile or to 101 East Haning (Howe Chamber office)

Molas, the bright hand sewn blouse panels of Kuna (Cuna) Indian women, are recognized as one of the finest examples of indigenous textile art forms produced today The descendants of the preColumbian Kuna (meaning “sons of god”) are crowded into the northeast of Columbia and the San Blas Islands off the Caribbean Coast of Panama Although explorers as early as the 1500s described Kuna women as “well dressed in figured cotton mola (cloth),” it was in the 1800s that the cotton blouse with two panels became known as a mola In the 1950s and 1960s tourists bought the decorative panels separately rather than as whole blouses and the name mola became attached to these panels also

The sewing technique used in creating molas is often referred to as reverse applique From 2 to 7 layers of cotton cloth of contrasting colors are basted together Cutting thin channels through the top layers of cloth to reveal the contrasting colors below create the design The

Due to the availability of poor quality molas, the market for “old” (1950s, 1960s, and earlier) hand stitched molas is limited The market for selling these pieces is the collector interested in traditional textile art forms of high quality and design

I acquired several molas from a friend who in the 1950s visited San Blas Island and bought pieces of their artwork I framed four of them and had beautifully colored pillows made from two others These vintage native artworks make brilliant additions to home décor

Dr Georgia Caraway, former director of the Denton County Museums for 14 years, and her friends opened the Howe Mercantile at 107 East Haning Store hours are Thursday through Saturday noon until 8 p m She has written five Denton history books Her latest, North Texas State Fair and Rodeo, is available at Howe Mercantile She hopes her next book will be the history of Howe If anyone has photos that she can copy, please bring them to How Mercantile

Downtown Howe has three gif

Dr Ken Bridges

Dr. Bridges is a Texas native, writer, and history professor. He can be reached at drkenbridges@gmail com

Persistence makes all the difference, whether in history or science And it is that persistence that can change the world, in ways both large and subtle. The work of engineer Otis Boykin helped facilitate a revolution in electronics, from the pacemaker to guided missiles

Boykin was born in Dallas in August 1920 His parents had very modest means but worked very hard His mother was a maid, and his father was a carpenter However, his mother’s health was weak, and she died of heart failure when Boykin was just a year old His father struggled on and eventually became a minister

Boykin proved to be a brilliant and hard-working student He graduated at the top of his class from the segregated Booker T Washington High School in Dallas. He won a scholarship to Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, a respected, historically African-American university While a student at Fisk, he worked at the university’s aeronautics lab, where researchers devised new components and designs for aircraft He graduated in 1941

Not long after graduation, he moved to Chicago where he started working for a number of engineering firms He began working with and developing new electrical systems By the end of World War II, Boykin decided to move on and start his own company, Boykin-Fruth, Inc , a research and consulting firm He also decided to expand his educational horizons and began