I finally stopped into a sweet little vintage store on Guadalupe, in downtown Austin called simply
– I ❤ Vintage –
right across the street from The Buffalo Exchange.
And as soon as I walked in, I found this sweet little handkerchief!
It’s a very nice example of “rick rack crochet.” In this case, the “rick rack” used was only about 1/8″ wide. This is a horseshoe style of trim.
The embroidery on the front is in Spanish and reads, “Ay amor me duele tonto.” Which http://www.spanishdict.com tells me means “Oh love it hurts me so.”
You can see two halves of a broken heart also in the embroidery.
An odd little sentiment to stitch into a lovely kerchief, it seems to me. But then, if the kerchief is for crying, then I suppose it makes sense!
You can see other examples of rick rack style crochet from the late 1800’s, early 1900’s and late 1900’s in my Pinterest collection here.
Learn more about the history of “rick rack crochet” here and here!
Crochet Liberation Front:
Aberrant Crochet (TM) 
What a lovely find!
Learning so much from you, Julia!