1940’s Textiles Feature Vivid Colors and Exciting Graphics
Twenty dollars can buy a 1940’s table cloth dripping in hand printed daisies or cherries, and because the cloths were mostly manufactured of pure cotton or linen in a durable, heavy-weight fabric, many have survived in useable condition. Careful laundering can sometimes remove even fifty-year old gravy stains, but some owners consider that the imperfections make them more useable, since the presence of existing stains releases one from worrying about spots of more recent vintage.
Textile Manufacturers of the 1940’s
Textiles for the table were manufactured in the 1940’s by:
Martex
Wilendure
St. Regis
Prints Charming
Bucilla
Startex
Table Tempo
Garden State
Radient Beauty
Queen Anne
California Hand Prints
M L Cloths
Designers Prints
Typical 1940’s Tablecloth Dimensions
Typical sizes include 36 x 36, 40 x 40, 48 x 50 and variations on the square or nearly square version for bridge tables and small kitchen tables. Rectangular cloths can be 54 x 60, 58 x 60, 60 x 72, and sometimes larger. The larger sizes are more expensive as they become increasingly harder to find. A typical tablecloth has two hemmed edges and two selvages (literally self-edge, the finished edge that is produced as the cloth is woven).
Graphic Design for Textiles
Unlike fabrics before or since that rely on an overall pattern to create interest, 40’s textiles frequently made use of negative space as a major design element. Tablecloths often have elaborate borders rendered in the background color (usually white) 
that mimic the shape or outline of the motif. The result is lively and eye-catching, more effect for the effort, an important aspect of a pattern that was created by a hand screening process. Even the plain geometric borders are frequently scalloped or wavy to create the effect of movement that makes these cloths so visually dynamic.
Artwork became even more flamboyant after World War II. Flowers such as roses, daffodils, iris, pansies, dogwood, daisies and tulips, and fruit especially cherries, strawberries and apples were popular, but so were fanciful floral concoctions not found in nature. As the decade progressed, the forms became more abstract until they evolved into the futuristic shapes of the 50’s. Not only were flowers abstract, so were colors, and blue tomatoes or maroon peaches abound.
Tablecloth Design Motifs
Lively prints were often combined with geography to create souvenir tablecloths. These cloths usually depict a central outline of the state with pictures of enticing attractions in their approximate locations. Texas, California and Florida are the easiest to find. A 48 inch square Florida cloth in a popular colorway like red and blue in excellent condition can bring as much as $75, but the average is between $40-50. Other popular cloths feature south of the boarder and Black memorabilia motifs
Vintage Tablecloth Values
As with most vintage items, condition, rarity and popularity play a large part in determining value. Cloths with crossover appeal, such as Black Americana or US State collectibles bring higher prices, as do those in popular colors such as red & periwinkle, jadeite or Fiestaware hues. And while the highest prices are paid for tablecloths in mint condition, especially those that were never used, collectors will also buy examples in used condition, albeit for lower prices. For example, a 44” x 50” red, blue and turquoise cherries cloth might bring $45 in nearly new condition, the same cloth with minor stains and yellowing could fetch $18-22.