QUILT INDEX RECORD
33-29-28
Description of quilt:
Delectable Mountains, a pieced pattern made by Frieda Plume won third Place in the National Round.
Essay:
The 1933 Sears National Quilt Contest was announced in January 1933 with a deadline of May 15, 1933. Over 24,000 quilts were entered at local Sears stores or sent to one of 10 regional mail order houses. Quilts were judged at each site with the top three winners moving onto the next round. Finally just 30 quilts reached the final judging held at the Sears Pavilion on the 1933 Chicago World's Fair site. This quilt entered by Frieda Plume of Evanston won third place in the final round of judging. Although photographs of the quilt appeared in 1933 Chicago newspapers, the actual quilt was not located until after the 1995 travelling exhibit was underway. The quilt had travelled from Chicago to the Northeast. The quilt and a box of ephemera related to the quilt and the contest was given to a friend of the family. When Patchwork Souvenirs exhibit was on display at the Museum of Our National Heritage in Lexington, MA, the quilt owner read that Waldvogel and Brackman would be at the museum to do a program. They were all surprised to see the quilt -- no one knew it was red and white. The large size was also striking, but it was the contents of the box that was the most satisfying. Included were clippings with photos of a store-contest she won; a copy of the entry tag; a letter from Sears contest organizer; the Nancy Cabot quilt pattern based on Frieda Plume's Delectable Mountains, and a Jan 28, 1933 letter from Mary McElwain offering to have her quilted by her professional quilters. What's interesting is that Mary McElwain was one of the final round judges. And this quilt was awarded third place.
Where are the records for this quilt housed?
Merikay Waldvogel Legacy Project
Who documented this quilt?
Merikay Waldvogel Legacy Project; Sears Quilt Contest 1933 Chicago World's Fair
Merikay Waldvogel Legacy Project Number:
096
Person filling out this form is:
Quilt owner
Choose the best description of the source to the quilt:
Quilt owner
If you are the quilt owner, how did you acquire this quilt?
Received as a gift
Who helped you fill out the form?
Waldvogel
This is a:
Finished quilt
Quilt's title:
Delectable Mountains
What color is the quilt?
Red; White
Overall color scheme:
Bright or primary colors
Method used to make the inscription:
Attached label
Describe where the inscription was found:
On front
Time period:
1930-1949
When was the quilt started?
1932
When was the quilt finished?
1933
Describe the quilt's layout:
Medallion or framed center
Fiber types used to make the quilt top:
Cotton
Fabric styles used in the quilt top:
Solid/plain
Piecing techniques used to make the quilt top:
Hand Piecing
How are the layers held together?
Hand quilting
Quilt top made by:
Plume, Frieda
Where the quilt was made, city:
Evanston
Where the quilt was made, state:
Illinois (IL)
Where the quilt was made, country:
United States
How was this quilt acquired?
Gift
Why was the quilt made?
Challenge or Contest entry
Quilt is presently used as:
Keepsake/memento
Where did the maker get their materials?
Purchased new
Where did the maker find their pattern?
Public domain/traditional pattern
Describe anything about the design of the quilt that wasn't already recorded in a previous field:
In a letter written to Mrs. Carpenter whose quilt was also shown at the Chicago World's Fair, Frida Plume wrote: "Dear Mrs. Carpenter: Thank you for your congratulations. My quilt is pieced of solid red and white Peter Pan gingham, an all over pattern." Re: the pattern name: Although Delectable Mountains is an old traditional pattern, the layout in this quilt may have been the maker's only design. Chicago Tribune published the pattern in this arrangement in its Nancy Cabot quilt column (date?). Here is the description: Title: Pyramid Mountains, Row on Row. Make Triple Prize Winning Quilt: Delectable Mountains one of the most noteworthy patterns presented in these columns, recently won three prizes in a nation-wide quilt contest. The design was created long ago in New Jersey by the invalid wife of a clergyman; during her long years of confinement to bed and chair she designed and made many quilts, but considered this her masterpiece. Its history since indicates that her belief was well founded. One interesting fact about it is that its name has remained unchanged." Mrs. Scioto Danner of Emporia, Kansas sold quilt patterns in the 1930s. In Book 1 (a mult-page sales catalog), she wrote about seeing this quilt: "Delectable Mountains: I saw the quilts in Chicago before they were taken to the Fair. Among them was the only quilt of this design that I have ever seen. It was of the same shade that I have used in mine [shown in a b/w quilt photo]. It would be equally pretty in another color. And I've noticed that every quilt that has tiny triangles in the construction is a pretty quilt. This is so clean and clear cut. It would do splendidly for a boy's or man's room or for one with modernistic furniture. Pattern with quilting, 50 cents." ("Mrs. Danner's Quilts Book 1 (Emporia, KS, self-published: 1934), 35.
Exhibitions where this quilt was displayed:
This quilt was not found until the Patchwork Souvenirs exhibit was underway. It was exhibited at the State Street Sears Store in Chicago, May 26 - 30, 1933. And then at the Sears Pavilion at the Chicago World's Fair during the summer of 1933.
Contests entered:
Sears Quilt Contest, 1933 Chicago World's Fair
Publications (including web sites) where this quilt or maker was featured:
Merikay Waldvogel and Barbara Brackman. Patchwork Souvenirs of the 1933 World's Fair (Nashville, TN: Rutledge Hill Press, 1993), 43, 97.
Related items such as diaries, obituaries, wills, household inventories, or pictures of the quiltmaker:
Receipt for the contest quilt (dated May 15 1933 and signed by Mae G. Wilford at the Sears Loop Store). Letter May 20, 1933 from O. A. Howard to Frida Plume--congratulating her for winning the first prize for the quilt at their store. He said her quilt would be judged for the chicago Regional prizes on June 1. Letter January 28, 1933 from Mary A. McElwain to Mrs. F. V. Plume, in which she said she had talked with Mae Wilford and learned that Plume wanted someone to quilt her contest entry. McElwain replied that her prices vary from $10 to $21 depending on how much work she puts on the quilt. She wrote, "I have a very wonderful group of women and only one quilter works on one quilt, so your stitches are uniform. It may take from 12 to 14 spools of thread, depending on the type of work." (Collection of quilt owner--photocopy in Waldvogel Collection) Contest brochure (Collection of the owner and a photocopy in Waldvogel collection). Note: Rule #1: Anyone may enter by submitting a complete patchwork quilt of his or her own making, which has never been previously exhibited. Newspaper Clipping (Chicago Daily Tribune May 20, 1933) Written by Rhea Seeger: Quilts Depict Progress: Modern Quilt Patterns Vie with Favorites. Excerpt: "Delightful old fashioned names are perpetuated in these 1933 quilts . . . for instance, a prize winning beauty called "Delectable Mountain," an eye filling model exquisitely patched with scarlet patches that look like the summits of far-away mountains against a snowy white background. Newspaper Clipping: Chicago Daily News, Friday, May 26, 1933: Winners in World's Fair Quilt Contest (photo of Delectable Mountains and two other winning quilts). Clipping (undated) Chicago Tribune, Nancy Cabot Quilt Column: Pyramid Mountains, row on Row. Make Trip Prize Winning Quilt.
Ownership of this quilt is:
Private
Quilt owner's country:
United States
Quiltmaker's gender:
Female
In which kind of environment did the quiltmaker live?
Urban
Quiltmaker's city:
Evanston
Quiltmaker's state:
Illinois (IL)
Quiltmaker's country:
United States
Access and copyright information:
Restricted
Copyright holder:
Merikay Waldvogel
Cite this Quilt
Plume, Fried. Delectable Mountains. 1933. From Merikay Waldvogel Legacy Project, Merikay Waldvogel Legacy Project; Sears Quilt Contest 1933 Chicago World's Fair. Published in The Quilt Index, https://quiltindex.org/view/?type=fullrec&kid=33-29-28. Accessed: 03/28/24
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Waldvogel, Merikay