Jeri asked, and perhaps this was sent to me privately, I am not sure since I don't get her postings, whether there was a link between the Needle and Bobbin Club and the International Organization of Lace (formerly the International Old Lacers). I don't there was. Perhaps others have knowledge that I don't have. The Needle and Bobbin Club was New York City based and started in 1916. There are still a few people around who were members in the late 1980s before it ended in about 1986. Some members of the Needle and Bobbin Club have been members of the International Old Lacers at various times. But, I don't think there was any direct link. The Metro Chapter IOLI encompassed both New York City and the suburbs in New York and New Jersey. In 1979, an International Old Lacers convention was hosted by the Metro Chapter in New York City. After this convention the group in the city and the group on the other side of the Hudson split, with the group in the city taking the name of the New York Lace Guild. The New York Lace Guild did not seek affiliation with the IOLI. So there was for a period of time, two lace groups in New York, the Needle and Bobbin Club, and the New York Lace Guild, with no affiliation with the IOLI. Meanwhile on the other side of the Hudson, the Metro Chapter continued, and was affiliated with the IOLI. One element of the Needle and Bobbin Club was that it was originally a club for lace collectors who were very wealthy. It was possible that you could be black-balled, or not accepted because you were not "clubbable". Marian Powys was not a full member because she was "in trade". By the late eighties, they were relaxing their standards and let in the people that I know, who all joke about this. But, it was still a club in which many people who fit into the IOLI would feel uncomfortable, socially. I get the impression that the lace collectors who were in the Federation of Doll Clubs were not socially elite. The fact that the Needle and Bobbin Club was in existence for 70 years is pretty impressive, and shows how hard it is to sustain things. One of the problems cited in discussions about the demise of the club was that they didn't have a good place to meet because people in New York no longer had large apartments that they could entertain in. Devon
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