Purses Of My Youth
Can you remember your very first purse? Was it something bought to wear on Sunday while going to Church? Did you have to wait until you were “older”?
I will be 60 this year. I bring this up, as a frame of reference for the young ladies as they remember their first handbag. Needless to say, growing up in my youth is certainly a lot different than the past twenty years. Thus my memory may not be so specific on the “fashion details”. As another frame of reference, I must provide my background to understand the “purse” choices I had to make.
My family lived in a small town about ½ hour north of Toronto in a “new” section of homes built in late 50’s. They were semi-detached homes starting at $12,000 and we lived in a 4 bedroom home, as there were 3 boys, 2 girls and 1 set of parents. Most of the families living on our street were what I call “boots” or “blue collar workers”, my father in 1958 earned an average of $8800 per year. With all the basic essentials to raise a family of 7 people, there wasn’t too much left over for “luxuries”.
Every Easter, the Easter Bunny usually gave the boys marbles and the girls received skipping ropes. In some years, depending how much money was available, some times my sister and I received white patent shoes and a small patent white purse for Sunday School. We thought we had died and gone to heaven. We couldn’t wait to wear our shoes and carry our purse and it didn’t matter if we weren’t going to Sunday school, we wore them anyway. Invariably, the shoes would be scuffed and the purse would fall apart. We weren’t too upset by this as life just carried on! But for a while we did think we were the cat’s meow of fashion on our little street.
I also recall one time, when I was about ten, during an “art” lesson; our teacher decided we would “make” our own “coin purse”. I remember it like it was yesterday because it was my first attempt with a needle and thread. The basic material of the purse was a vinyl material that was decorated as “blue gingham”. The teacher had cut out the pattern pieces. One piece looked like an envelope while the other piece was just the rectangle. The “flap” would fold over. I honestly can’t remember how it would close or stay closed. But the challenge was we had to sew it together. She had punched holes along the edges and using some wool (I think I chose red) we had to use the blanket stitch to finish the edges. I seem to recall that I had to take it home to finish it. It was the most excruciating exercise that I had ever encountered. I couldn’t quite get the hang of this stitch although I did finish it. But, alas, it ended up somewhere, not sure where, because I never saw it again.
During my youth, by high school, a handbag was considered part of your wardrobe. My first handbags would have been shoulder bags as this made it easier to carry your homework (text books and notebooks). As our “back to school” budget was very limited, my “boutique” of choice was S.S. Kresges (now Kmart). Choices were extremely limited so I had to do with one purse for all seasons and occasions. When I had some part time jobs, I was able to purchase more expensive handbags to augment my high school wardrobe.
As I have matured, my tastes in purses has not changed that much. I still only buy a couple that must fit all seasons and occasions. If I were to count the number of handbags in my closet, I would come up with 3, but I use only one consistently……….Can’t quite bring myself to buy any more to take up room in my small closet. But guess what, I am okay with that!
About the Author
Brenda Marchese is a budding author of articles of interest to the everyday woman (aka The Frugal Fashionista) and owner of Handbag Gems They say the world is my oyster, so stay tuned for my pearls of wisdom! To all the Frugal Fashionistas, for the million dollar look at an affordable price, visit http://www.handbaggems.com
Sandy Denny – Crazy Lady Blues (vinyl 1971)
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