Handbag facts for kids
A handbag is a medium-to-large bag typically used by women to hold personal items. It is often fashionably designed. Versions of the term are 'purse', 'pocketbook', 'pouch', or 'clutch', terms which suggest rather smaller versions.
Content of handbags might include such items as wallet/coins, keys, mobile phone, cosmetics and jewellery, books/e-books, pen and paper, food and beverage such as a water bottle, tissues or a hairbrush.
Men's purses
Men once carried coin purses. The oldest known purse dates back more than 5000 years, and was worn by a man, Ötzi the Iceman. In early modern Europe, men's trousers replaced men's breeches during the 18th and 19th centuries. Pockets were added in the loose, heavy material. This let men carry coins, and then paper currency, in small leather wallets.
Images for kids
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Queen Elizabeth II, holding her Launer London handbag
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Women's fashion from 1830, including a reticule handbag from France
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An 1875 Chatelaine bag, with a buckram frame and velvet body. It would have been "hooked" into the waist of the skirt.
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Crocodile skin handbags in a conservation exhibit at Bristol Zoo, England
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1860 Woman's handbag with frame and kissing lock (LACMA)
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A bilum bag, used in Papua New Guinea. Bilums are made of "bush rope", cuscus fur or wool, and expand in size
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Ojibwa bag with decorative beadwork; this particular bag was probably made for a child
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A Burmese Kachin bag or wallet. A Figure from the booklet Burmese Textiles, published in 1917 by Laura E. Start
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A Scandinavian Sámi purse (handbag) with shoulder strap
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A Betel bag from West Timor, made around 1921. Called an aluk, such bags are still made
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A modern handbag in a traditional Hakka Chinese-style floral fabric design
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North African bag with lizard head and paws
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19th century bags and pouches of the Sioux
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Bags exhibited in the Yunnan Nationalities Museum, Kunming, Yunnan, China
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An early 19th-century Mexican Handbag featuring a lamb and crown motif in traditional needlework and a silk dress lining.
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Ladies' Burberry handbag (2005)
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Tanner Krolle Eva bag (2006)
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Longchamp tote bag
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Ted Noten bag (2009)
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Chanel 2.55 bag
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A handbag from French designer Etienne Aigner
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Handbag shaped like vintage Volkswagen bus (2007)
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A classic-looking bag made from black microfiber cloth
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Crocheted bucket-style handbag by Sak.com
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Handbags at the 2010 FONART exhibition in Mexico City
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Bag made of recycled water sachets by Trashy Bags, Accra, Ghana (2012)
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Colorful handbag made from recycled materials (2012)
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JulieApple's Yoga-a-GoGo bag made by AirDye technology that dyes fabric without the use of water
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Santiniketan leather bag from India
See also
In Spanish: Bolso para niños
