The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1891-11-27
PURSES, OLD AND NEW.
THE EVOLUTION OF THIS USE
Full ARTICLE.
The Old Greeks Wore Them and Then
They Went Out of Fashfon-Re-
vived BY Charlemagneand
Popular Ever Since.


habited the Garden of Eden. carried a
purse or not no existing record informs
us. Indeed, there are records which
lead US to suppose that Eve did not
even possess gown with a pocket, SO
she would hardly have had purse.
But purses were used ages ago, says
the N. Y. Recorder, for we have the
word in Greek, or one SO nearly like
it that it is easy to- see that the name
in all modern languages was derived
from the Greek. bursa.
The purse, or pouch was originally
piece of hide folded up to make a
kind of pocket, and this was attached
to belt hung around the waist It
is possible that purses went out of
fashion for few hundred years. as no
mention is made of one until the time
of Charlemagne, who is described as
wearing a gilt travelling pouch when
he went to Rome. We may suppose
that the gilt was of the best quality and
did not tarnish, because it was attached
to girdle composed of gold OR silver.
Allusion is occasionally made in old
authors to leather bags and purses for
money; but there is not the least men
ton of them or even of pockets as used
by the SaXons, although the Saxons
must have used them, and probably
wore them under the garments.
A little later, in the time of Henry
Will, a purse of crimson SATIN en-
broidered with gold is mentioned in
the inventory of the contents Of the
palace at Greenwich.
About this time, also, it was the
custom for men to wear knife or
dagger through the straps or belt that
carried the purse, and there was very
little difference between the purse and
the pouch. The latter was worn by
countrymen and sportsmen. Noble
persons and gentlemen carried the
same recepticle at the time OF the Nor
man invasion. It was more or less
ornamented, and hung from long laces
of silver or gold. From the habit of
giving aims, it was called by the Nor
mans aumonier, and the same word is
used in France now for the. pretty lit
tie bags which bridesmaids hand
around the church at a wedding when
the ceremony has been performed and
it is time to take up a collection for
the poor.
Before modern pockets were invent
ed the purse or escarelle was some
times a most elaborate continuance,
and contained four or five bags in
which money, jewels, medicines relics
and tablets were kept 1t was worn
at the girdle, and until the seventeenth
century was attached to it with cords.
Afterward these bags were richly orna-
mented with clasps and embroidery.
The Kings purse generally con-
tanned his signet or seal. With women
the purse ordinarily served to keep
counters, paternosters relics, etc.
The accounts of one Goeff1oe de Fleuri
Q316) mention purse of velvet srs-
pended from silver chain. This was
for the secret seal of the king A note
is also made of the buying of velvet
which is to be embroidered and to hold
the secret seal of the Dauphine.
Sometimes one person owned several
purses. which were used for different
purposes.
In the inventory of Charlotte de
Savoie (1483) no fewer than twenty
three purses were of white or red
leather, and others were of cloth or
satin. In some there was money and
others held relics. In the inventory
of Anne de Bretagne mention is made
of a purse which contained serpent's
tongue. The marriage PURSE was
an institution of this time and was the
purse in which good husband always
placed gold pieces at the solemn mo-
ment when she who had been his
sweetheart was about to take his
name. Often these purses were richly
embroidered or enameled, and these
embroideries and enameiings repre-
sented the two frances. Then again
the monogram of both was interlaced.
These purses were carried until the
seventeenth century. In France the
aumoniere was an Indispensable OBJ
ject in the daily dress of both sexes.
1t was almost never taken off, except
while the individual was dressing or
putting on armor, when he was in the
privacy of his own house.
In the early part of the present CEN
fury kind of case or box called a
reticule came into vogue. In 1908 it
is described as made of figured sarce-
net, plain satin, or silver tissue. with
strings and tassels to match. To at
tain the acme of good taste it had to
be of the same color as the pelisse or
wrap.
The gowns and hats were compare
lively plain in the days of our great
grandmothers. but the cuts to be found
of the fashions of that day represent
these esteemed danes as wearing fun
ny little shawls folded lengthwise and
tied at both ends with small and friv-
olous bows. Their handkerchiefs were
of enormous size, and certainly no
small bag or case could contain the
fan, card money, essence bottle and
handkerchief which we are told it did.
A remarkable adjunct to the leather
purse used by Alsatian and Swiss
yro,por y,oopv voorc orc .-,, ., 1-o;fo