Old Maid Prize, Black Ink Drawing Signed F.A, 1892 handmade jackstraws the materials are invariably thoughtful

the materials are invariably thoughtful and smart

I just can't resist these old German animals when I find them--except when they are exorbitantly priced

I'd guess these are just a bit older than that

I'm not at all a photography expert

holding the gull firmly in place

Old Maid Prize, Black Ink Drawing Signed F.A, 1892 handmade jackstraws the materials are invariably thoughtfulAt first I thought this antique merit award type drawing was a snarky, or tongue in cheek portrait of an old spinster, which, as a happily unmarried woman in her late 40's, appealed to me personally, but then I realized it was surely a prize for the winner of what must have been a fierce Old Maid card game, or maybe long stretch of games. And indeed, Old Maid in its current incarnation dates to the early 1880s, popular in England as well as in the U.