Older cloth draw string purse, worth listing?

Lucille.b, Have you smelled the bag? I find odor to be one of the most reliable measures of age in textiles and wood.

If the rings are made of modern plastic, then that's a game changer. Can you scoot the threads apart and see if the ring is bright white ( as opposed to ivory, which would be bone or, less likely, bakelight/celluloid), which would make it early. They could also be metal rings, which would only give a clue if the threads have rust stains.

Things to consider:

You mentioned that the colors are showing up brighter in the photos than in real life. It takes very little reduction of color saturation in iphoto to achieve what we of as 1920's coloring. Does the bag look earlier in person?

Color palettes were brighter in some parts of the world than in the US, so even though color shades are invaluable for assessing age, in the case of something from countries with a history of rich colors, it's not reliable.

This bag does have the color palette of the 70's; no doubt about that, if the real color is the same as the computer screen. And it has that old fashioned, hand made look that was so popular in the 1970's. But, that retro look was often achieved by shopping for vintage items at second hand shops, and there is nothing about it that excludes the possibility that it is earlier. Lining a new bag with plain, 50+ year old fabric? Never. People made things from vintage tea towels, but they lined them with a calico ditzy print. I'd bet my 1970's high waisted hot pants ( circa 1940's shorts found in a thrift shop and worn throughout the 70's) on that.

For anyone with an interest in dating textiles or just an appreciation for them, I highly recommend this book http://www.amazon.com/Textile-Designs-European-American-Organized/dp/0810925087#which is around 450 pages of BOLD prints from a 200 year time span. The section on optical prints from 1880-1900 will surprise you!

The embroidery was done with the same cotton embroidery floss that we can buy today.No clues there. DMC has been making this same product in the same 454 colors for over 100 years, and Anchor has been making it in 480 colors for 190 years. Anchor may have changed their colors over time, but you can buy the same DMC floss your great great grandmother did.

If you zoom in on the top edges of the bag, and on the open side thelmasstuff mentioned, you will see that it is hand stitched (including the side seams of the outer layer which can be seen in the photo) in small close stitches with cotton sewing thread. That's more handwork than people raised on tv and fast food are inclined to do. In fact, the popular needlework methods of the 70's were hairpin lace, crochet, cross stitch and macrme - all methods with the primary appeal of being fast and easy to do.

The row of yellow stitiching is not intended to create a path for an earlier draw string but to hold interfacing in place ( back then this was often just an additional layer of the outer fabric). The purpose, back in the days when sewing was more constructed, was to give that upper edge stability, so it didn't look wilted.

I was a textile major in the 1970's. My favorite hang out was Lacis ( then and now the leading source worldwide for obscure needlework tools and supplies). I don't believe anyone alive today can come close to late owner Kathe Kliot's knowledge of antique textiles and she was always eager to teach. Alas she is no longer here to ask, but my old neighbor, Diane Ayres is. Diane is an expert and reproducer of Arts & Crafts textiles. I'll see her later this month and can ask her her opinion of this bag if you like. I was initially introduced to textiles through my father, an archeologist and antique dealer who knew enough to ocassionally write articles on early American fabrics for magazines and to teach me restoration stitches.

 

Metal rings.

As I look at this I think it is pieced together from different ages. Inside looks quite old, something about the fabric. If I had to guess, would say the inside looks 1900's, if not older. The exterior is another matter. I do not think as new as 70's, maybe, maybe 1960's, but something about it just feels like it could be earlier. Even 1920's or 40's.

The rings we decided were a later addition. The blue chord looks the newest of all.

The outer layer has a detailed repair on the edge, this thing has been sewn and re-sewn.

This was purchased last summer from a 70 year old woman who said it had belonged to her mother. It wasn't expensive ($3). This particular sale is where I got some very nice older things. One item even went back to 1850. (Tiffany teapot.) She had a lone table at a neighborhood sale, everything on it was her mother's, she was clearing out, and honestly I don't recall anything post 1940, but doesn't mean this bag isn't newer.

If this is a mystery that goes unsolved, it's okay by me. I was just curious if it was an easy ID. Had gotten some valuable things at the sale, just wondered how this fit in.

Thanks, all!