Collection
The earliest handbags in the museum's collection are typically small, used to carry coins, keys and sewing kits. Such bags were carried, by both men and women, under clothing to avoid drawing the attention of thieves. The development of pants with pockets for men, and the change from billowing skirts to more form-fitting dresses, led to handbags becoming an item for women, often with elaborate adornment.
With the coming of the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century, technology and the growth of rail travel accessible to the middle class led to larger handbags, often made of durable leather.
Brand name bags came to the fore in the 1950s, epitomized by items in the collection including a quilted Chanel purse and the Hermès Kelly bag.
Read more about this topic: Museum Of Bags And Purses
Famous quotes containing the word collection:
“We’ll never know the worth of water till the well go dry.”
—18th-century Scottish proverb, collected in James Kelly, Complete Collection of Scottish Proverbs, no. 351 (1721)
“Our society is not a community, but merely a collection of isolated family units.”
—Valerie Solanas (b. 1940)
“Bolkenstein, a Minister, was speaking on the Dutch programme from London, and he said that they ought to make a collection of diaries and letters after the war. Of course, they all made a rush at my diary immediately. Just imagine how interesting it would be if I were to publish a romance of the “Secret Annexe.” The title alone would be enough to make people think it was a detective story.”
—Anne Frank (1929–1945)