Esse Purse Museum - A Dream Trip In Herstory

 

I'm so excited to tell you about my incredible trip to the Esse Purse Museum in Little Rock, Arkansas. What a wonderful destination; I highly recommend a visit!

Of only 3 Purse Museums, this is the only one in the United States.

A splendid collection spanning the entire 20th century, there's so much to see. Beautiful displays artistically capture the essence of women through the decades. As if its not enough just to see all these purses collected, they are really the vehicle for exploring the herstory of women.

This is the herstory of the real women, who have been the backbone of the family and society, not limited to celebrities. I greatly appreciate the way this museum brings our women's herstory to life.



The dynamic women who bring us the treasure of Esse are all so creative, friendly and engaging, I know you will enjoy meeting them on your visit.  Here they all are in the captivating gift store. From left, Lara Kahler, Anita Davis (Visionary), Laura Hardy, and Morgan Hill.

Morgan also has a beautiful jewelry line that is featured. Yes, I treated myself to two wonderful purses from the Esse collection, and a wonderful necklace from the Morgan Hill collection.



Owner, collector, and visionary Anita Davis in her beautiful office, which reflects her creativity and artistic appreciation.



This is just the tip of the iceberg of the incredible collection.

This is a different kind of weigh in that's lots of fun.  When you sign the guest book you get to weigh your purse and record the weight.  It's lots of fun to skim through the guest book and see what women are carrying.

The beautiful vision for Esse; a thoughtful tug at your heart.

It's really what's inside that counts, and reveals some of our herstory

Everyday woman on the move

Fascinating!  I have studied about war rationing in England, and am so interested to see the war rationing coupons at the Esse display.

A lovely evening bag, one of many displayed.

I was lucky to be at Esse during a temporary exhibit of vintage hats. Another piece of herstory that I very much enjoyed. 

Here's my favorite purse in the exhibit, although there were many that tied for 2nd place favorites. I hadn't seen a Whiting & Davis before, and it really grabbed me. Can you imagine, this intricate design is on both sides of the beautiful, metallic bag.

Yes, I did buy 2 purses and a pretty necklace, but you'll have to wait for the next blog entry to see the wonderful buys I brought home from the Esse gift shop.  To learn more about Esse, as you plan your own visit, take a look at their web page at http://essepursemuseum.com/

Any of you who have already visited Esse, blog in on what was your favorite purse?

National Handbag Day and Vintage

 All the best to you on National Handbag Day!

October 10, 2024, but you can celebrate every day

Celebrating the national holiday this year reminiscing about an outing at Antique stores in the beautiful town of Snohomish where I found old time glamorous purses by Whiting and Davis. This is the oldest handbag company in the US. It's remained so artistic throughout the decades and is still creating beautiful purses and jewelry, scarves, clothing, wallets, belts, and much more in Massachusetts.

In 1892 Mr. Whiting designed the first mesh bag. Mr. Whiting began in the company as an errand boy in 1876. He worked his way into manhagement and eventually became a partner in 1886. By 1907 he was sole owner. The company started as a true cottage industry, hiring women to hand make the bags in their homes by linking together the tiny metal rings that made up the mesh. By 1912 demand was so high they were pushed to develop an automated mesh making machine.

The mesh bags are all made of metal and they have such a luxurious feel. They're so light to carry. Here you see a bag circa 1920, when a woman didn't worry about carrying much in her handbag. These Flapper style purses sparkled and delighted on an evening out.

Here's a close up of the Art Deco clasp and frame. You can also see here the detail of the sewn mesh links. So sorry to see that the colors have faded with time, but you still see the suggestion of its original beauty. Inside the lining is a yellow, satin lining that is so sleek to the touch. Included is a petite interior pocket as well.

Speaking of sparkles, this is a real treasure. In the early days of production, most Whiting & Davis bags were made of sterling silver. This is a real silver tin mesh purse. As more bags were made by machine, they were able to experiment with other, cheaper metals.

This large, round, chain mail style, beautifully shaped pouch bag has an unbelievably smooth and soft feel to it and is incredibly light to carry. You hardly know you're holding anything in your hand or on your wrist with the double chain.

It was celebrity endorsements beginning in the 1920's that kept Whiting and Davis such coveted bags.

Here you can see how flexible the gold chain link is, actually puddling on the table, and turned inside out you can see the matching gold, silk lining.

Thank you Whiting and Davis!



And whatever you're carrying, Enjoy your National Handbag Day

National Handbag Day!

 

What are you carrying on National Handbag Day?  This year it's October 10th.

Some people say the purse you carry says something about your Purse-onality

Designer bag - Stick to well known designer labels and prepared to spend all disposable income on bags. If possible, you'd collect all models of bage by your favorite designer. Don't care much about color, style, materials, or size. You're a champagne drinker, whenever corks are popping.

Clutch - Minimalist and a little fancy. You like things simple and clean but don't have so much on your plate that you need to be hands free. Holding a clutch makes you feel empowered and like you could be going on a hot date any minute. You're glamorously girly and love to wear flirty dresses, skirts and high heels. You like to finger the stem of your wine glass as you chat with your friends, or your date.

Novelty bag - Love collecting unusual and strange shapes and probably have a train, bird, house, fruit, etc. Don't want to be boring or "normal". Also look for bags covered in patterns, comic book characters, or other fanciful design. You like pretty drinks like Tequila Sunrise, Malibu Sunset, or Cake by the Ocean.

Impulse bag - Buy because you fell in love with the bag at first sight and have to have it. Don't care what it will go with or if its practical size, or what it will be used for. Can't live without it because so in love. Live life with your emotions on your sleeve, the sleeve on the arm with the bag. You also love passionate drinks like Sangria.

Hobo - Chill girl likes to go with the flow and needs an equally carefree bag to match your free spirit lifestyle. Friends would describe as boho chic. Inclined to live in a year round warm climate and only use umbrellas as decorations in your icy drinks.

Logo - Usually you have just one bag, or few bags, but you like to look fashionable so you want a prominent designer logo on show.  You probably bought it quite a while ago, probably in a sale, but you don't care if it's a design from an old collection or even if it's getting worn as long as the logo is still in good shape. You don't want to spend an exorbitant amount so you'll carry the old one until the next sale of logos. You like drinking Baileys and other name brand alcohol

Tote - You're prepared for anything, which is why you need a bag large enough to carry all your stuff.  You're the one who always has aspirin, bandaids, hair ties, and so on, and enough for everyone. You tend to be a planner and don't like to get stuck without something you might need. You like to drink tequila shots.

Oversized Tote - Busy career woman who's always on the go, so the need for the huge tote to lug around all your essentials from laptop to makeup bag, and sometimes change of clothes. Ready to take on the world and always comes prepared, but you often forget to stop and smell the roses. Remember to relax, it's good for your health. You drink wine, especially Pinot Grigio

Backpack - Super active and love to travel. You're always on the move so you need a big enough bag to hold a lot of stuff and has double-strapped shoulder support. Like the tote gal, you're usually prepared for most situations but you like more comfort. You're a beer and hard cider drinker

Arm Carry Bag - You're independent and fashionable. The arm carry bag fits in the crook of your arm, which pulls out a slightly sassy attitude, but it's because you're confident. You're up to date on the latest trends and like to be sophisticated. You drink daiquiris, martinis, sidecars, and moscow mules.

Shoulder Bag - Loved by downtown gals with cash, and by models. Usually worn with scarves. Drink Makers Mark bourbon and soda.

Satchel - More serious, you take your job seriously too. Definitely not a high maintenance gal, you do appreciate the finer things in life and you have a classic sense of style that you convey through your impeccable power-woman wardrobe. You like to drink Mojitos, gin and tonic, white russian, Jack on the rocks.

Crossbody - Less is more type of gal. Appreciate the simple things in life and skip the 24/7 glam makeup thing. Just need wallet and phone and ready for anything. You like adventurous, and well-crafted drinks like Bacon Cherry Creek, peach margaritas, jello shots

60% of women own more than 10 bags and 3% of women have at least 25 bags.