After my Mom passed in June of 2001, I took over her "job" as vice president of the St. Catherine of Sienna Catholic Church's Rosary Altar Society.
Part of the duties included chairing the St. Patrick's Day card party. There are 15 -20 tables where the ladies play different card games, Pokeno or whatever. Whomever finishes with the highest score gets a gift = "Table Prize".
So with that in mind I was constantly looking for an appropriate St. Patrick's gift to give the ladies. One day when we were walking into a large store there was a lady outside selling scarves as a fund raiser for a Children's Hospital.
Lo and Behold she had scarves with green shamrocks. I thought I hit the lottery. She agreed to sell them to me in bulk and she would bring them back with her the next time she came. We went back several times but she was a no show. The Christmas holidays came and still nothing.
At this point I had me heart set on giving these scarves so I started an internet search. That was so many years ago the internet was not the same as it is today and I came up empty handed.
We were living on Long Island - just a 35 minute train ride to midtown Manhattan. One day when we were in the city we came across a wholesale seller of the scarves. I told them I needed 40 scarves and they sorta laughed and said their minimum order was $500.00.
Oh dear Lord, my balloon got so deflated. We walked away to talk about it. I explained to Gene that I had searched and searched the internet for these scarves and came up empty, so certainly we should be able to sell them on eBay.
Needless to say we went back to them and came away with my 40 Shamrock scarves plus many, many more. LOL
While we were still living there we would go to the warehouse in the Garment District of New York City. They would take me back into the storage area where I was able to pull packages right off the shelves. I was like a kid in a candy store.
That was 9 years ago and almost 2000 scarves ago. Now I believe we have the largest selection of over 80 different designs on eBay and perhaps the Net.
They are 13" x 60" and so light and silky for under a collar in spring and summer, but do offer warmth in the fall and winter when worn around the neck. We also have some little 21" square neckerchiefs and 40" large squares / shawls.
We have had ladies use them as a belt / sash or as a head wrap or just over the shoulders to keep off the draft from an air conditioner or fan besides wearing them in the more traditional ways.
The material is called stain stripe. It is all polyester with a stripe of see through and an alternating stripe of satin. The design is printed on the whole scarf. I was also thrilled to learn they are made in Korea and are all brand new, not seconds with their little tag in tact.
There are so many designs - animals; flowers; American flags; pink ribbons; red hats; music; Picasso; solid colors; all holidays; squares, swirls and many, many designs in every color imaginable.
The beauty of this fabric is that it comes out of the washer and dryer looking brand new.
I am noticing on TV that scarves are really becoming popular again and do add so much versatility to just a few basic outfits.
All our scarf listings on eBay.
