Virginia Thacker

Tatting

Virginia Thacker learned to tat as a child growing up in Oil City, Louisiana.  Her Aunt showed her the art and gave her a shuttle and thread to begin what would become a life-long hobby for Thacker.  Thacker takes her tatting with her almost everywhere she goes, for tatting takes little equipment and space.  Thacker has shown her daughter and some of her grandchildren how to tat, and she hopes that this will help her tradition to survive.  Her favorite pieces to tat are collars and lace edging for pillow cases and handkerchiefs. 

Ms. Thacker continues to live in her family home in Oil City and to raise an extensive garden, cattle, and chickens.  She believes in staying active and drove a school bus until her early 80s.  When she was a young woman, she earned the distinction of being the first certified female pilot in Louisiana, and she and her late husband owned and flew an airplane for many years.  Ms. Thacker still maintains an airstrip which is in use from time to time by pilots at her family farm in Oil City. 

Virginia Thacker was inducted into the Louisiana Folklife Center’s Hall of Master Folk Artists in 2005.