Shortly after Florence Luebke died in 1985, her nephew decided to donate her collection of handkerchiefs to Colorado State University.

All 1,107 of them.

Now, the massive hanky collection has been put on display by the Avenir Museum of Design and Merchandising.

There are handkerchiefs of almost every conceivable type. Black ones for funerals. Festive ones for holidays, including Mother’s Day. Commemorative ones from states along Route 66. The one from Seattle World’s Fair of 1962. One with images of foods and their calorie counts? Got it. There’s even a placard outlining the hanky’s language of love – the many ways it was used for flirtation and communication by potential romantic partners.

And they’re not all square – one display case showcases handkerchiefs of different shapes and sizes. Another shows off the ones Luebke received between 1947 and 1963 from the various “Hanky of the Month” clubs that were in existence at the time. (June 1948 was a banner month — she got nine of them.)

There’s also a section in the Avenir exhibit about how Kleenex got its start: After World War I, the hanky got a bad rap as a transfer mechanism for Spanish influenza virus, so the disposable tissue company seized on the opportunity in 1924 with the slogan, “Don’t put a cold in your pocket.”

Mystery solved

Unfortunately, when CSU employee Paul Gilbert dropped off the boxes and boxes of handkerchiefs in the mid-1980s, museum staff didn’t get his aunt’s last name. So Avenir employees and volunteers only knew her by how she was addressed in greeting cards that accompanied handkerchiefs she received as gifts – and that she kept as part of a meticulous hanky filing system.

“It’s a curator’s dream to have that archival evidence to go along with many of these pieces,” says Avenir Curator Katie Knowles. “But most of the cards referred to her as just ‘Flo.’”

Finally, Avenir volunteer Terrie Cornell found a single envelope bearing the last name “Luebke,” and verified her identity through some genealogical research.

The exhibition, “Nothing to Sneeze At: One Woman – 1,107 handkerchiefs,” was designed and developed by Avenir volunteer and guest curator Marcella Wells, and will be on display in the Avenir Gallery at the University Center for the Arts until Aug. 3. It is one of four new offerings that opened at the museum Jan. 16. The other three are on display in the Avenir Museum of Design and Merchandising at 216 E. Lake St.

‘ORANGE: A short history of orange in fashion’

This exploration of one the most important colors in the history of CSU – not to mention the Denver Broncos — features more than sports apparel.

A line of dresses illustrates how the use of the color orange in fashion changed over the span of a century, from the subdued burnt orange of the 1890s through the bright neons and fluorescents of the 1960s and ’70s.

Conceived by Avenir Museum volunteer Jan Alexander, who was struck by the large number of orange garments in the museum’s collection, the exhibition explores the various meanings of orange in society as well as the technological advances that were needed to develop brighter dyes and the synthetic fabrics that would hold them.

And, of course, one display features an Aggie letterman sweater, Denver Broncos apparel bearing “Orange Crush” and “United in Orange” mottos, as well as an old orange Bronco helmet from the ’60s loaned by John Beake, former general manager of the team.

The exhibition ends July 17.

‘FABRICation’

The first large-scale traveling exhibition brought in by the Avenir, Virginia Commonwealth University’s “FABRICation” is a textile and fiber arts examination of “slow making” by hand, featuring seven artists.

The theme is “Slow Looking,” suggesting that visitors take their time soaking in each piece to notice details that may not be evident at first glance.

Many of the pieces feature mixed media. Erin Castellan uses a variety of materials to create hybrid works that drape off the wall. Kristy Deetz paints wood to look like a textile surface. Virginia Derryberry sews garments such as dresses onto quilts. Reni Gower’s work features colorful vertically hanging layers. Natalie Smith’s minimalist, multidimensional pieces explore repeating patterns on different surfaces. CSU alumna Susan Iverson created striking tapestries that hang in the shape of the letter U – and she’ll deliver an evening lecture about FABRICation at the Avenir on March 22 (see events at right). Finally, the largest of Rachel Hayes “strip-quilting” works features a combination of burlap sacks, polyester chiffon and vinyl. The exhibition is on display until May 11.