Wondering....

A few days ago I came across an ad within a local rummage sale group on the internet. I belong to this group as I like to browse and view things people have for sale or are ISO "in search of." This ad grabbed my interest. It read: "Looking for a heavy wool blanket. 100% wool is a must. Military surplus blankets from Poland, Germany, Italy, also Hudson Bay and Whitney Point are my target. Want a heavy camping blanket. If you have an old blanket and not sure what it is, shoot me a message and we will figure it out. Willing to pay $100 for the right kinds/quality."

I have been storing two for many years that may come close to his search so I unpacked them, spread  them out on the LR floor and measured. Then I got back to the person and wrote him what I have, giving measurements and attaching my pictures. I had noticed a label attached to the larger one and then got into some intensive research. 

The reason I went digging for information is because my great grandmother's maiden name was Ayres and these two items came to me from my mother. See this label which is on mine that started my quest.

e-Bay had several listed and I was able to get an idea of their values. Here is an image from an e-Bay ad.

Here are photos of mine.

The tartan doesn't have an attached label as does the one I saw on e-Bay but the plaid is an exact match for sure. Below are two images from e-Bay. 

The fun part of today's 'work' was finding a bit of the only history I came across about the Ayers blankets. It has left me wondering but I'm not searching more for determining a real connection to my great grandmother. Some things I have to let go. 

And, yes I do have ancestry information on the Ayres, but I'd rather just look at photos and imagine that there was a connection and they were well off! There is no need to prove anything today. And if the person ISO wool blankets is interested I may not consider his offer after all.

Malinda A. Ayres (Folkner) b. 1850
Father John H. Ayres b. 1824

James Marshall Folkner and wife Malinda Ann

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