Designer: Unknown
The Story: This beautifully stitch together scarf is made from four vintage colorfast bandanas sewn into a nearly four foot square scarf. Equally as valuable as an accessory or framed as a piece of Americana heritage.
….
The roots of colorfast dyeing trace back centuries to Turkey Red, a brilliant crimson produced using madder root and a notoriously complex process. Creating the dyestuffs involved madder root, alizarin, sheep's dung, bull's blood, and urine — an odd combination that produced a vibrant red that wouldn't fade with sunlight or washing, creating the first truly colorfast fabrics.
The term "colorfast" wasn't officially introduced until around 1916, and by the 1920s the words "fast color" or "color fast" began appearing printed directly on bandanas as a mark of quality assurance. This was a genuine selling point — early dyes were notoriously unstable and could bleed badly in the wash.
By the 1950s, the colorfast label had become a trusted symbol on American-made bandanas. The words "fast color" or "colorfast" are now considered signs of a vintage bandana, used in the mid-20th century to advertise that the bandana would not lose its color in the sun or wash. Often appearing alongside the label was the iconic Elephant Brand logo by Davis & Catterall, whose trunk-up elephant marking on post-1950 bandanas makes them among the most sought-after pieces for collectors today.
Designer: Unknown
The Story: This beautifully stitch together scarf is made from four vintage colorfast bandanas sewn into a nearly four foot square scarf. Equally as valuable as an accessory or framed as a piece of Americana heritage.
….
The roots of colorfast dyeing trace back centuries to Turkey Red, a brilliant crimson produced using madder root and a notoriously complex process. Creating the dyestuffs involved madder root, alizarin, sheep's dung, bull's blood, and urine — an odd combination that produced a vibrant red that wouldn't fade with sunlight or washing, creating the first truly colorfast fabrics.
The term "colorfast" wasn't officially introduced until around 1916, and by the 1920s the words "fast color" or "color fast" began appearing printed directly on bandanas as a mark of quality assurance. This was a genuine selling point — early dyes were notoriously unstable and could bleed badly in the wash.
By the 1950s, the colorfast label had become a trusted symbol on American-made bandanas. The words "fast color" or "colorfast" are now considered signs of a vintage bandana, used in the mid-20th century to advertise that the bandana would not lose its color in the sun or wash. Often appearing alongside the label was the iconic Elephant Brand logo by Davis & Catterall, whose trunk-up elephant marking on post-1950 bandanas makes them among the most sought-after pieces for collectors today.
