Hi there, I'm having some trouble dating this lovely purse, it looks old but I'm just not sure. The frame, although ornate seems to be plastic and not lucite or bakelite. The bag's fabric is ribbon. Any thoughts? I'd appreciate your help!
The frame looks like it is Celluloid. I agree with Deborah on dating it to the '30's. The fabric doesn't look like ribbon to me but like a type of yarn, and I believe it is crocheted. The little balls were called "popcorn." I have a similar bag in my collection that I showed on this thread: https://forums.vintagefashionguild.org/threads/help-with-dating-purse.60495/#post-601934
I am late, but anyway... yes, it is definitely crochet work and it is yarn, not ribbon, like Linn said.
These were super popular in the late 30s-early 40s. They were crochet kits. You'd buy the whole kit (yarn, instructions, handles) and make it. My grandmother and her BFF made them on train trips.
Lovely. It looks to be made of what they sued to call "gimp" which is not really a yarn, but a satin wrapped cording.
Hi Linn, thanks for your help. Although I understand why your bag would look similar to the one I posted, the fabric does not look similar. The popcorn term however is very useful to me, thank you again!
how interesting!! I never knew that! Maybe that would explain the handle that looks to be made out of a simpler kind of plastic?
I am an interior designer. I know "gimp" as trim usually used for upholstery but it can be used on curtains, pillows, etc. Here is an online definition of "gimp" that I found: twisted silk, worsted, or cotton with cord or wire running through it, used chiefly as upholstery trimming The purse is crocheted from yarn. Gimp would not be flexible enough to do this. The frames of both bags I have like this are Celluloid. It's likely that the bag your are asking about is Celluloid. Here is a picture of my other "popcorn" bag.
The definition Linn give above is correct, but keep in mind it is a modern definition. "Gimp" back in the old days, pre 1950s, was quite thin and very flexible, but not limp. In my collection I have quite a number of rolls of antique and vintage gimp, dating from circa 1920 to 1940s. Very thin, cotton core and silk or rayon satin outer layer. The paper labels on the rolls says "GIMP" on each roll, regardless of the maker. Home sewers used it, as did milliners, for soutache, crochet and embroidery.. I have come across quite a few handbags made if this old gimp. Here is an example
