Is it a Purse, Pocketbook, or Handbag?
This is very funny as I started this article because I just bought a vintage “bag” while Thrifting with my dear friend and shopping cohort on Cape Cod. Immediately while at the sales counter began my inquiry as to whether it was a Purse, Handbag or Pocketbook. You see it has a definitive sound when it closes, kind of like the vault door at a bank. No mistaking that the contents are secured. Most of the gals queried were my age or older, and the responses were varied, as you can imagine, based on their personal experiences. What did become apparent however is that the responses were regional as well as international in origin.
Who knew I was opening another – “Great Debate” albeit less arbitrary than the skinny jeans topic – holy cow, the list of options and origins just keeps growing. This is clearly a Fashion topic which is always a moving target and a Style discussion simultaneously. Turns out bags are Functional Fashion and a Style Statement at the very same time. And this season two handles on top are the Trend!
Historically, handbags have always functioned as signifiers of power, status and beauty as well as their practical uses.
Medieval purses were not only used for carrying money, but also had great symbolic weight representing marriage and betrothal—they were thus often embroidered to depict love stories.
A pocketbook is smaller—not necessarily small enough to fit in a pocket, but smaller than a purse—and used more as a wallet or clutch. A purse, then, is a bag large enough to carry your pocketbook inside.
Who invented the purse?
The ancient Greeks made use of leather, papyrus and linen purses known as bursa to store coins, which is the etymological (“scientific study of the origin and evolution of a word’s semantic meaning across time”) and origin of the English word ‘purse’.
The emergence of money inspired the creation of drawstring purses, most commonly hung from a belt or kept in clothing folds. It was originally invented and created for Men.
From Ancient Egypt hieroglyphics depicting men carrying pouches around their waists to the late 17th century, men were the ones who carried bags. Even the term ‘handbag’ itself, which was first popularized in 1900, was a term for a man’s hand luggage.
Men’s fashion changed with the invention of pockets around 1670, and men no longer had to carry a purse strapped to a girdle. They did still carry smaller pouches to hold their money, which later evolved to become wallets. After the change in men’s clothing, bags became a fashion accessory for women.
My research shows that regardless of the naming they are all basically the same. Whether it is Bag, handbag, pocket, pocketbook, pouch, wallet, billfold, Bursa, fanny pack or hobo bag.
We have a stalemate good for us, everyone can call their “bag” whatever they want. As it should be in all things.
Be well, Be Stylish and Be Happy Glowing Through life,
Bobbie