40s American Girl shoes & handbag

Midge

Midge

Super Moderator
Staff member
Here's something I've been asking myself about... I bought these American Girl Shoes because I thought the colors and shape are fab - and because they're my size (no, not for every day wear, but they do fit beautifully!). Late 40s or maybe very early 50s I think. A few weeks after I got them, the seller got back to me saying she'd discovered the matching handbag to go with the shoes.I have been wondering about the bag ever since it arrived... it does seem to be made from the same material, and the colors match totally, but somehow it looks to me more like something homemade.

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The sides and bottom of the handbag are made of cardboard, and the lining is sewn in by hand. The zip has a nice plastic (lucite?) handle. The strap has been sewn to the bag very awkwardly, which at least hints to someone making alterations at home, and the straps too seem to have been altered to make them shorter, by adding some velcro (which must be newer than the shoes). The metal sliders must also have been added later, as again the seams holding them look very awkward - like sewn by hand by someone who's not used to sewing. So I'm pretty sure the straps originally were different, and the bag has seen some changes, but also the way the body of the bag is made, with the cardboard - could that really be commercially made or not? If I had only the bag and even considered the strap being changed, I might have thought it was homemade. There are no labels in the bag at all.

I'd love to hear your thoughts, or maybe someone of you has seen something like this before. I love the set as it is, and didn't pay much for the bag, so all good, but I have been wondering...

Karin
 
GREAT set. The age of the lining, zipper, lucite pull, and style of bag all seem right to me. The velcro is the only thing that looks like a later addition. I don't think velcro was commercially used until the 60s (I think the first time I've seen it is late 60s). However, I have seen some pretty crappy construction in purses from the late 40s, especially in a novelty style like this. I had a pair of black shoes that were identical in style to this pair and they may have even been the same make, I can't remember now. They were worn as part of a going away outfit in spring 1947.
 
Oh, great to know - also about the possible dating! I just loved the shape, which seemed a bit unusual, and the color combination as well. I'm still working on a dress from a 1940s pattern, in a dark green fabric. I think it will look smashing with these accessories :). Not that I planned it, but now I have it all on the table, I just realised the colors match pretty well.

Kairn
 
These are fabulous Karin , I say pretty much with confidence irrespective of the quality of the hang bag they were retailed as a set or to go with one another, the logic behind this statement is more about the practicality of some one with the skills needed to make a bag been able to track down the same material as used for the shoes going by your photo, it would be a difficult thing to do today even with the Internet and modern communication back in 1947 it would be many more times harder.
The only exception that I can see is if the bag was made by some one who had some connections to the shoe manufactures / retails and had the inside knowledge and access to the fabric to run a bag up at home.
I wonder what those odds are?
Any way it will be a treat for us to see you putting those shoes on with a vintage dress one day.
Your finds always put a smile on my face.
 
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