What a great post. My mother didn't carry a bag until I was more than a few years old. I had always seen my grandmother carry one, thought. I'm not sure what age I started carrying one, but I think I started later than most. It was called a pocketbook back then. Then later, a purse. Now we're still getting used to calling it a hand bag. It will probably continue to be called a purse between my mother and me at this point. Your mention of enjoying the pursuit of the purse more than actually getting it, is so much like me with many things in life. I have ADHD too, so I get it!
Nawwww this just unlocked a lovely forgotten memory for me! I used to LOVE LOVE LOVE inheriting my mum and grandmothers old handbags. I can still smell them too. My heart skips a beat when I recall this sacred pleasure and love. Thank you for the gift of your words, Susannah. 😻
What is the mystique of the Perfect Bag? And why, every few years, do I feel called to go on a quest for a New Perfect Bag? I'm not sure, but I loved this sweetly nostalgic piece. Brings back a lot of memories about the magic of mom's bag.
I love handbags and have many. The only thing that unites them is that not one is black. Enjoy the search. Funny - just before I clicked into email to read this post I was also scrolling handbags 🙈
I love this story. My grandmother and great-grandmother carried “pockeybooks”. They were a source of fascination for me, too. Especially the ones that weren’t being used; I used to rifle through them, looking for treasures.
I also love that your Blythe doll has a tiny pink trolley! Is she going to fill it with art supplies? 😊
Yess!!! The bag! I can't recall my mothers, but my grandmother had a couple she rotated--there were always granola bars, tissues, lipstick, and so much loose change. And mints. Though I can't recall my mother's bag, I know it always had Luden's cherry flavor cough drops. They still remind me of running errands with her as a child. I also feel that sacred responsibility of finding the right bag. Usually one big enough to hold a paperback. :)
I don’t have clear memories or connections to my mom’s handbags, but I sure do cherish memories of the handbags my grandma had! She had a giant straw one she’d gotten on vacation in Mexico. It was decorated with papermache fruit and made rustling noises as it rubbed up against her polyester skirt. Grandma kept LIFE in that bag - toilet paper, perfume, a bag of Brach’s candy, a change purse, a small photo album, lipstick and compact, her driving gloves. Everything but money, that she wrapped in a monogrammed hankie and safety pinned to the inside of her longline bra. No huge surprise, the content of my own handbag mirrors Grandma’s in many ways. I can’t say the same about my bra 😉 Thanks for a wonderful piece!
I don’t have clear memories or connections to my mom’s handbags, but I sure do cherish memories of the handbags my grandma had! She had a giant straw one she’d gotten on vacation in Mexico. It was decorated with papermache fruit and made rustling noises as it rubbed up against her polyester skirt. Grandma kept LIFE in that bag - toilet paper, perfume, a bag of Brach’s candy, a change purse, a small photo album, her driving gloves. Everything but money, that she wrapped in a monogrammed hankie and safety pinned to the inside of her longline bra. No huge surprise, the content of my own handbag mirrors Grandma’s in many ways. I can’t say the same about my bra 😉 Thanks for a wonderful piece!
Thank you for this sweet post. I remember my Mom having a collection of Coach purses that were on rotation. I was always amazed at the trinkets and treasures that she pulled out of them. I remember buying my very first Coach brown leather medicine bag with my own money. Unfortunately, I donated it years ago. I currently use a tiny bag for a small wallet, phone, sunglasses readers and keys. I still want to find a vintage Coach purse to replace the one I let go.
Beautiful post. This gave me fond memories of my headteacher at my primary school who I adored. She carried a shiny black paton handbag which she would place on top of the piano every morning at assembly. It matched her shoes which I watched pressing the pedals as we sang.
Gosh, I felt this post such a lot. Both my mum and Grandma always carried a handbag, and I used to enjoy looking through them (with permission). My Grandma bought me my first 'expensive' bag - an Osprey London one. She bought me a few over the years, and a bubblegum pink one still sits in my wardrobe, alongside the cutest tiny one which was one of the last she bought herself. I no longer really use a handbag due to it causing me pain, but I will probably keep those handbags for a long time because of what they represent to me. It's funny how we see something so ordinary, as holding so much safety. My grandma always had what we needed in her handbag always - including a clean, ironed, white handkerchief. Cherished memories ♥ Thank you for reminding me.
Lovely post! Made me consider the handbags in my family. My mom didn't have such a magical purse that I recall. Hers were, instead, important fashion accessories. Neither did my grandmother. But my mother-in-law? She had the magical handbag out of which all kinds of supplies emerged when needed: a nail file, a chapstick, a cough drop, a pencil, a bandaid. I emulated her, and thus I carry a magical purse that my adult kids still rely on to supply them with hydrocortisone cream, for example, when they get a mosquito bite while traveling with me.
My Mother had the same handbag. She always wore foundation, powder and red lipstick which she kept in a zipped make up bag. Your were a close and trusted member of family or a friend if you ever saw her without it. Her make up bag was always in her handbag. When she died I was given the handbag for safe keeping. I removed anything that we needed (money and cards) at the time but 15 years on it remains intact in a cupboard with the exception of the make up bag which I put in her coffin as I couldn't think of her without her beloved red lipstick. She would never have forgiven me!
What a great post. My mother didn't carry a bag until I was more than a few years old. I had always seen my grandmother carry one, thought. I'm not sure what age I started carrying one, but I think I started later than most. It was called a pocketbook back then. Then later, a purse. Now we're still getting used to calling it a hand bag. It will probably continue to be called a purse between my mother and me at this point. Your mention of enjoying the pursuit of the purse more than actually getting it, is so much like me with many things in life. I have ADHD too, so I get it!
Nawwww this just unlocked a lovely forgotten memory for me! I used to LOVE LOVE LOVE inheriting my mum and grandmothers old handbags. I can still smell them too. My heart skips a beat when I recall this sacred pleasure and love. Thank you for the gift of your words, Susannah. 😻
What is the mystique of the Perfect Bag? And why, every few years, do I feel called to go on a quest for a New Perfect Bag? I'm not sure, but I loved this sweetly nostalgic piece. Brings back a lot of memories about the magic of mom's bag.
I love handbags and have many. The only thing that unites them is that not one is black. Enjoy the search. Funny - just before I clicked into email to read this post I was also scrolling handbags 🙈
A lady after my own heart! I love handbags and finding the perfect one is a true joy :)
I love this story. My grandmother and great-grandmother carried “pockeybooks”. They were a source of fascination for me, too. Especially the ones that weren’t being used; I used to rifle through them, looking for treasures.
I also love that your Blythe doll has a tiny pink trolley! Is she going to fill it with art supplies? 😊
Yess!!! The bag! I can't recall my mothers, but my grandmother had a couple she rotated--there were always granola bars, tissues, lipstick, and so much loose change. And mints. Though I can't recall my mother's bag, I know it always had Luden's cherry flavor cough drops. They still remind me of running errands with her as a child. I also feel that sacred responsibility of finding the right bag. Usually one big enough to hold a paperback. :)
I don’t have clear memories or connections to my mom’s handbags, but I sure do cherish memories of the handbags my grandma had! She had a giant straw one she’d gotten on vacation in Mexico. It was decorated with papermache fruit and made rustling noises as it rubbed up against her polyester skirt. Grandma kept LIFE in that bag - toilet paper, perfume, a bag of Brach’s candy, a change purse, a small photo album, lipstick and compact, her driving gloves. Everything but money, that she wrapped in a monogrammed hankie and safety pinned to the inside of her longline bra. No huge surprise, the content of my own handbag mirrors Grandma’s in many ways. I can’t say the same about my bra 😉 Thanks for a wonderful piece!
I don’t have clear memories or connections to my mom’s handbags, but I sure do cherish memories of the handbags my grandma had! She had a giant straw one she’d gotten on vacation in Mexico. It was decorated with papermache fruit and made rustling noises as it rubbed up against her polyester skirt. Grandma kept LIFE in that bag - toilet paper, perfume, a bag of Brach’s candy, a change purse, a small photo album, her driving gloves. Everything but money, that she wrapped in a monogrammed hankie and safety pinned to the inside of her longline bra. No huge surprise, the content of my own handbag mirrors Grandma’s in many ways. I can’t say the same about my bra 😉 Thanks for a wonderful piece!
Thank you for this sweet post. I remember my Mom having a collection of Coach purses that were on rotation. I was always amazed at the trinkets and treasures that she pulled out of them. I remember buying my very first Coach brown leather medicine bag with my own money. Unfortunately, I donated it years ago. I currently use a tiny bag for a small wallet, phone, sunglasses readers and keys. I still want to find a vintage Coach purse to replace the one I let go.
"... the musty leather mixed with a powdery sweetness, the metallic tang of loose coins found in the pocket." PERFECTLY captured.
Beautiful post. This gave me fond memories of my headteacher at my primary school who I adored. She carried a shiny black paton handbag which she would place on top of the piano every morning at assembly. It matched her shoes which I watched pressing the pedals as we sang.
Gosh, I felt this post such a lot. Both my mum and Grandma always carried a handbag, and I used to enjoy looking through them (with permission). My Grandma bought me my first 'expensive' bag - an Osprey London one. She bought me a few over the years, and a bubblegum pink one still sits in my wardrobe, alongside the cutest tiny one which was one of the last she bought herself. I no longer really use a handbag due to it causing me pain, but I will probably keep those handbags for a long time because of what they represent to me. It's funny how we see something so ordinary, as holding so much safety. My grandma always had what we needed in her handbag always - including a clean, ironed, white handkerchief. Cherished memories ♥ Thank you for reminding me.
This brings up a memory for me — I have the cabinet my grandmother kept in her bathroom and it still smells of her powder decades later 💕
I have a tin like that. Whenever I open it I am whisked back to grandma's bedroom.
Lovely post! Made me consider the handbags in my family. My mom didn't have such a magical purse that I recall. Hers were, instead, important fashion accessories. Neither did my grandmother. But my mother-in-law? She had the magical handbag out of which all kinds of supplies emerged when needed: a nail file, a chapstick, a cough drop, a pencil, a bandaid. I emulated her, and thus I carry a magical purse that my adult kids still rely on to supply them with hydrocortisone cream, for example, when they get a mosquito bite while traveling with me.
We played a game in a baby shower …what weird things moms carry in their handbags.
What a magical bag indeed. The nail file can be a life savor.
Many a time!
My Mother had the same handbag. She always wore foundation, powder and red lipstick which she kept in a zipped make up bag. Your were a close and trusted member of family or a friend if you ever saw her without it. Her make up bag was always in her handbag. When she died I was given the handbag for safe keeping. I removed anything that we needed (money and cards) at the time but 15 years on it remains intact in a cupboard with the exception of the make up bag which I put in her coffin as I couldn't think of her without her beloved red lipstick. She would never have forgiven me!
What a sweet memory! Thank you for sharing. My mom still carries a little bag of tissues. That is the one thing that I remember as a kid.