All the hankies are old. Once white, now a little yellow with age. Some have crochet edges, some have her initials. Others have flowers embroidered on them. The basic colors with few exceptions are green, pink, and blue...all on white. The material she gave me is also vintage... tiny pick flowers on white, tiny blue flowers on eggshell, and green leaves on cream. I think she thought if we went with pure white it would make the hankies look dingy. She soaked them and washed them herself. You can tell they are clean, but old. She wanted me to use the hankies as blocks with the colored material in between. They are so delicate and the material is heavy cotton. I would be willing to sew a white material to the back of them... I just thought something like a shirt interfacing would work better. Please keep mulling this over for me and help me decide. By the way, she kept 3 of the nice ones out to give to her sons wife if he marries, and her two nieces if they marry. Thanks for all your help... going to look up Hankie Pankey... hope I dont get some porn site. LOL