In The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde’s play, Lady Bracknell does not approve of Mr Worthing; her disapproval is made worse by the fact that he was adopted as a baby after being discovered in a handbag at a railway station. It causes her to utter the immortal words “A handbag?” Every actress who has ever said that simple phrase has done so in her own inimitable way.
Well handbags have become extremely popular in recent decades with everyone from fashionista to collectors. The explosion in highly decorative, light hearted, handbags in the 1950s was in part fuelled by an increase in informal occasions; bags from this period and back as far as the 1920s and 30s by notable designers are much sought after. Bags made in Bakelite and Lucite are very popular, but be warned before you buy anything made in Lucite, or some other early plastic material, smell before you purchase. If you get a strong chemical aroma it indicates the beginnings of the material degrading and soon tiny cracks will appear on the surface. To prevent any cracking on your bags keep them away from heat and strong sunlight. Perhaps you should only take them out on a cool evening….
