miser purse pics

Bags come in many form, are called many names, and are made with almost every material available. Bags have been regarded as status symbol for women of yesterday and today. Famous designers have been trying to create fabulous bags that are functional and fashionable in every sense and have historically been both the carriers of secrets and the signifiers of power, status, and beauty.

Beaded handbags have long story from the ancient beaded bags of African priests to the haute couture tote of the modern lady of leisure. In the 1300's when the glass making industry revived the evolution of bags touched beaded bags, too. In the Victorian era they have been an ever present accessory for many woman in the society.

Anything made by the hand has its certain appeal to customers, from handmade cards, handmade pair of shoes, and handmade beaded bags. It requires careful planning in your mind and creative hands to create such beautiful crafts to reality. Handmade beaded bags can be difficult to do; they can be painstakingly hard to create just one piece but the end result is worth every drop of sweat.

This little bag is a curious shape and has a curious name - "miser bag". Miser purses became popular in the late 1700s and were used by both sexes to hold money. The miser purse is essentially a long and very narrow fabric tube with single small pouches at either end, usually one ending in a rounded shape and the other having a squared-off shape. There is a narrower neck with a slit in its mid-section. This opening could be accessed or closed off by sliding two rings back and forth.

These were most often crocheted or knitted, with varying quantities of beads, as a rule, cut steel beads. They were carried in the hand or pinned within the garment or slung over the waistband of the wearer with one pouch exposed, men usually carried miser bags in their pockets, while women draped them over their hand or belt.

It is thought that the name "miser purse" stemmed from the fact that it was difficult to lose or even because of the restricted way you got access to your money by sliding the ring away from the pouch and then being barely able to get two fingers inside the slit opening. You literally had to "pinch the pennies" to pull out money from the bag. The two different shapes of the pouches denoted silver or gold coins within, or coin and paper money compartments.

Beaded bags history links:

• The Little Beaded Bag by Sandy Levins
• Beaded Bags And Industrial History by Hoag Levins
• The Ubiquitous Miser's Purse by Laura L. Camerlengo
• How To Spot a Valuable Vintage Beaded Bag by Henrietta Timmons

Miser Purse with Cut Steel Beads from Zoya Gutina's collection