An American History of Purses

About this episode

This episode explores the evolution of purses in American history, focusing on gender roles and market development.

Today the US handbag market is estimated to be nearly $12 billion, with most of the purchasing done by women, but into the early 20th Century purses hadn’t yet become the nearly-exclusive domain of women. The integration of pockets into men’s clothing, and the marketing push of toiletry items to women in the 1920s and 1930s drove this differentiated market development. Joining me in this episode is Dr. Kathleen B. Casey , Professor of History and Director of the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program at Furman University and author of The Things She Carried: A Cultural History of the Purse in America . Our theme song is “ Frogs Legs Rag ,” composed by James Scott and performed by Kevin MacLeod, licensed under Creative Commons. The mid-episode music is “ Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag ,” composed by Felix Powell with lyrics by George Asaf” and recorded in Camden, New Jersey, on December 22, 1916; the performance is in the public domain and is available via the LIbrary of Congress National Jukebox. The episode image is “ Shoppers. Amsterdam, New York ,” photographed by John Collier, Jr.; the photograph was taken in October 1941, and is available in the public…

People in this episode

Host: Kelly Therese Pollock

Guest: Dr. Kathleen B. Casey

Topics covered

• history of handbags
• gender roles
• cultural history
• fashion
• women's studies

Keywords

• handbags
• purses
• gender
• history
• fashion
• women's studies
• cultural history

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Furman University

Books & works: The Things She Carried: A Cultural History of the Purse in America, Frogs Legs Rag, Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag

Places: Camden, New Jersey

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