Description

A fine collection of 9 metal mesh purses all manufactured by Whiting & Davis Company.

The collection covers a variety of sizes and styles produced across the years —

watercolor flapper girl purses
art-deco inspired designs
modernish gold mesh wrist purse

Only 2 purses have liners (the gold one and the art deco one with the purple and red clasp).

All purses are in good condition — all working clasps and intact metal mesh. Some of the metal colors have faded, but this is expected with vintage items.

History: Charles Whiting made the first mesh bag in 1892. The bags that followed over the next two decades were made completely by hand. In fact, many were made by local women in “sewing circle” fashion who worked linking about 1,000 rings a day. This piece-work method was laborious, and one that Whiting found unreliable.

The solution? Working with a young inventor named A.C. Pratt, Whiting developed an automated mesh machine in 1912. Mesh for handbags could then be produced at the rate of 400,000 links a day, and in varying sizes, which grew the company’s production capacity significantly.

By 1920, the company expanded from 12 mesh production machines to 500. Read more –>