In the 1950s, mittens with long gauntlet cuffs became popular all over Lithuania. Some were made with drawstrings embellished with pompoms at the wrist, and many had fringe on the edge, as well. Realistic rose motifs also were popular for a period of time, some much more elaborate than this, knit in intarsia or added to knitting with duplicate stitch. Bird and animal motifs are also found on mittens and gloves in museum collections, but they are less common than geometric and floral designs. These are beautiful motifs in their own right, but they are not considered traditional by those who define these things.

These mittens are in the collection of the (Vilkaviškio krašto muziejus) Vilkaviškis Area Museum, one of the first small regional museums I visited on our tour of Lithuania in 2008. Scattered throughout the country, it seems like every city, town, and village has its own historical or ethnographic museum where you can learn about the traditions and lifestyle of the region. Most feature exhibits of items from the nineteenth century, but some—especially those near archaeological digs—have collections objects from settlements and graveyards dating back to The Stone Age.