They had a few stores in Michigan that carried a wide variety of napkins. A portion of her collection actually came straight from Hallmark. A portion of her collection is dedicated specifically to Kellogg’s napkins, which were displayed in the cereal museum, Kellogg’s Cereal City in Battle Creek, Michigan!Ĭathy is so known for her collection that she receives napkins from people all over! This includes friends from church, the rotary club, and her own children. They asked me to my napkin collection.” Her collection has also been put on display.
#AUTOGRAPH SPORTS COLLECTOR SERIES#
They have a series of programs called, ‘Odd Topics’. “I did one for Albion College in Albion, Michigan. Cathy also has the original Barbie doll napkin from 1959, the year she was created by Mattel.Ĭathy has given over 100 presentations to different groups about her collection, including rotary clubs, Lions Clubs, senior centers, classrooms, and assisted living. Another popular and timeless theme for napkins is Snoopy and the Peanuts characters, created by Charles Schultz.
She has a large collection of Mickey Mouse, as these napkins are still very popular today. ” It has the royal flag and the date printed on it.Ĭathy’s favorite napkin is a Mickey Mouse napkin from 1928, which is when Mickey was first created. “My mother mentioned to some people around her that her daughter would like a napkin. “There were people cheering them on and congratulating them,” Cathy says. Cathy’s mother and aunt were part of the large crowd that gathered for the wedding. “He was very kind!” she recalls.Īnother notable napkin is from the Royal Wedding of Charles and Diana. Cathy explained her collection and the napkin was autographed. “Don’t you want me to sign a baseball card?” Mickey asked. While walking through the restaurant, none other than Mickey himself was sitting in a booth and asked Cathy, “Would you like to join me?” Of course, Cathy ended up asking for a napkin to be autographed. She and her husband were in New York eating at Mickey’s restaurant. “I’m so tickled to have them!” Cathy shares.Įach autograph typically has a story behind it, and one story that Cathy shares is of how she obtained a napkin autographed by Mickey Mantle. This vast collection of autographs includes Taylor Swift (who Cathy and her husband met on Good Morning America), the members of Rascal Flatts, Wolfgang Puck, Mohammed Ali, Henry Winkler, Oprah, John Travolta, Gloria Steinem, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Barbara Bush, and the last seven governors of Michigan (including the present governor). Along with the autographed napkin is usually a story about the individual that Cathy has cut from a newspaper or magazine. One big category – which is stored separately in clear plastic sleeves – is her collection of autographed napkins, which are autographed by some incredibly high-profile individuals. “You name it, I think I can find a napkin from it,” she declares. She has boxes of napkins from different countries, including Spain, Portugal, England, and France. Her “sports” category includes napkins from racing, golfing, country clubs, the Super Bowl, the Kentucky Derby, and the Indianapolis 500. Another category is “transportation,” which includes napkins from airlines all over the world, railroads, buses, cruise lines, and more. Patrick’s Day, 4 th of July, Memorial Day, Thanksgiving, and even napkins from Groundhog Day! There are plenty of Halloween and Thanksgiving napkins. One big category is “holidays,” which includes Christmas, Hanukah, Easter, St. They were the first paper napkins known.Ĭathy’s napkins are stored in computer boxes and organized by category. Cathy notes that the Japanese make beautiful napkins that are of a very thin rice paper. Types of napkins include dinner napkins, luncheon napkins, cocktail napkins, and guest towel napkins that people use to wipe their hands. Today, the design is printed over the entire napkin, and among the most popular designs are birthday, holiday, and graduation napkins. At the time, if you unfolded a napkin, you would find that the design was only printed on one of the squares.
Paper napkins first started to appear in the United States in the early 1920s, and they were made from a very course paper. This collection grew, and today Cathy is a proud collector of over 40,000 napkins. The shoebox filled up and turned into a blanket box. So her mother placed the napkin in a shoebox under her bed. “My mother asked me why I didn’t use it, and I told her it was too pretty to use,” Cathy shares.
As a little girl, Cathy Campbell recalls coming home from a birthday party with an unused napkin. It all started at the age of five years old.