This image was scanned from my private collection
NO TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title: Tatting
Author/Designer: Myra Piper
Format/Publication Date: TPB:1982
Publisher: Self, Olney, Illinois
Page Count: 19
Book Dimensions(ht. x w.): 8 1/2" x 5 1/2"
ISBN: None
SUMMARY- This is a booklet of snowflakes - 47 of them! That's the good news. The bad news- she doesn't know the provenance of many of the patterns(Our expert on all things Norma Benporath, Judith Connors, has since stated on a discussion thread at Craftree that one of them is Norma's). The patterns were given to Myra over the years. There are 4-5 she was able to give the provenance of and they were all from antique magazines from 1925 or older. It's a nice collection, and published in a time period when we were all starving for new tatting books. The instructions are in written notation with a small black-and-white photo of each sample with the instructions. She gives her list of abbreviations in the back of the book. She doesn't attempt to give a beginner's tutorial. It's all just the patterns. Did I mention there were 47 of them?! That's a lot of patterns to get in such a small booklet. I was really pleased to have run across this one. If you run across an available copy, I'd grab it.
ADDENDUM(May 2017) Sarah Nielson:
Sarah Nielson has done some sleuthing and come up with Mrs. Piper's obituary notice(see below) and been able to communicate with Myra Piper's daughter! Her daughter tells us one of her son now holds the copyright. We now have a place of origin for the book! Sarah has suggested reprinting the book to the family and they are thinking about it. We ask that people not pester the family about this and respect their privacy.
Sarah Nielson has also made samples of the patterns from Mrs. Piper's snowflake book, and you can see them on her blog at: Lace, Bees, and Me
Mrs. Myra Elthia Lubben Piper(Nov. 13, 1907 - Apr. 11, 1992) obituary:
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=piper&GSmid=47211947&GRid=74997374&
And a further note from the sensational Becky Clark:
" ..."she learned to tat from her Nina Lubben - which was her maiden name." Turns out Myra's paternal grandmother's married name was Mena Lubben, she was a German immigrant, and she died in 1933, giving Myra 26 years to learn tatting from her..."