I think the trim on the dress may be rayon,could be silk but it looks like the trim on my baby bonnet from 1942. Rayon was used a lot, I have some rayon bias tape that is from 1930's.It is a kind of twisted stuff, you can untwist the cord on the dress I think so made up of several strands & then sewn on with small stitches over the cord going in direction of the twist so they can't even be seen. The chiffon type fabric is used in doll clothes in late 1800's & early 1900's. Might talk to someone who collects old dolls & show them pics. They could probably identify all the materials used. Better check on those flour sacks before you wash them & find out value try "textiles", 'kitchen" "ADVERTISING"try that 1 1st. Different books & different sites call things by different names. Lovely gown. One idea would be to get photo of the wedding couple & add a piece of gown(taken from back so won't show) & put under glass around 1 side of photo along with another item if you have it,(piece of jewelry she wore- wedding announcement in paper, maybe bit of flour sack from 1 not in such great shape) use an acidfree piece of heavy stock to mount all this in a nice way to enjoy & put in frame fronted with glass. Hang near the gown. A letter would be nice with her handwriting. That way you would have a little bit of her still with you!! Jan

Lots.Sorry. Probably not what you want to hear. I bought a wool rug from PB 4 years ago for our great room and it was still shedding even a month ago. I just replaced it with a customized-for-our-room plush area carpet rug. No more wool fuzzies and "dust" and much more fun to lounge on! As far as the black and red threads--I would expect the ends of a few threads might show up here and there on occasion, but not in obvious numbers. And the threadbare edging on one side? Is it the whole side? Not acceptable. IMO

CRL-- you got lots of good responses about wool vs synthetics already, so I thought I would chime in with my experience with Flor tiles. There are many different styles of Flor and some work fine in a traditional home. We have had it in our heavily used LR for years and it has survived band practise and wine and many other challenges . I have a small box of extra tiles hiding under the sofa which I probably someday will need. As for now, if a tile gets heavily soiled, I just pull it up and run it under water in my kitchen and wipe it with a microfiber cloth. We have been quite happy with it. The only downside is that it is not a sit on the floor type of rug because it has no padding. That works fine with us (and it is easier for my MIL's walker to navigate between our hardwood floor and the carpetted area). If you like to laze aroun on the floor, though, it isn't optimal.

How I Loooooove these cat stories!! I couldn't help getting a few tears in my eyes but so many more laughs!!! At 73, I can't say I ever remember a time I didn't have at least one weaving in and out of my legs, tail up, meowing either for attention or food. A few even tried to use me as a scratching post !lol My bff in IL takes in rescues, and at the moment has 21 or 22. The 100 yo historic home she bought 9 years ago came with 2 separate garages, one housing the majority of the kitties, the other is used for storage, but she always keeps the big door open a foot at the bottom, and knows *other* critters take part in the 'vittles' also. Sthe has either 4 or 5 in the house, one being a mama cat w/7 kittens, the very start of her rescue 'mission'. She gave away 2 of those kittens(after neutering!),and never stopped regretting it. They have all found a forever home with her. Her vet/food costs are insane, and when I visited in the summer we found worms in one of the litter pans, and in a two day period, took every cat into the vet to be dewormed. That was $400. It's neverending work! Whenever I call she's scooping, feeding, or rocking one of them in the old rocking chair that was moved out to the garage. She also donates to almost every animal organization known to man, even if it's only $5. She's a one-woman rescue shelter, and I wish I were closer to help. We always say we like animals more than people because animals can't help their situatuon, but people usually can.