Odd that the "Soul Glow" late-70s/early-80s greasy hair product revival didn't get a wiki mention
In the third grade I read a book called The Mouse and the Motorcycle which mentioned this object. I didn't know what it meant nor did my parents. So my grandfather bought me a massive unabridged dictionary which offered an unsatisfactory definition to the effect of "a cover for an armchair". If only I had this Wikipedia entry then... I would grok not only the essence of antimacassar, but it's origin and function.
There's a sight gag based on in Coming to America.