SPECIAL POST! Midas of Miami and Handicrafts, Inc.

SPECIAL POST! Midas of Miami and Handicrafts, Inc. with input from the sons of the company's founders.

Midas of Miami frog-shaped embellished straw (wicker) handbag. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum.

The Vintage Purse Museum really shouldn’t play favorites, but we have to say that of all of our many acquisitions, Midas of Miami is the maker we've been most hoping to profile. These handbags have the style, whimsy and bold Florida fashion statement that give us shivers of delight. That’s why we were excited when Victoria of Vintagiality, a fellow member of the Vintage Fashion Guild, told us she might be able to help us with our years-long quest to uncover the history of Midas handbags. Victoria sent us a 1969 directory listing for Midas of Miami and Handicrafts Inc., alongside the name of one of the company’s owners, Daniel Wagner—and a 2016 obituary that she found for its co-owner, June Wagner Blum.

When we reached out to the family, we were grateful that they were enthusiastic about sharing their parents’ history. The information below is from Daniel and June’s children, Dr. Kenneth Wagner and Sanford “Sandy” Wagner. Sandy Wagner worked at Midas of Miami for a time. We found additional information from a genealogy website and a newspaper archive to which we subscribe. We also contacted Fulford Manufacturing in Rhode Island, the maker of the distinctive handles on Midas of Miami handbags, and asked if they had any records. Still very much in business, they kindly responded, and said that although most of their old documents were destroyed in a 1986 tornado, they would be happy to send along some photos of pages from a vintage Fulford catalog.

This Q&A email interview has been lightly edited for clarity. Be sure to scroll all the way down for photos and newspaper ads. Many beautiful Midas of Miami handbags are pictured in this article, but these are not all of the Midas purses in The Vintage Purse Museum's extensive collection. We have dozens and, as you can probably discern by our enthusiasm, we adore them all.

Many Midas of Miami handbags had three-dimensional, highly-detailed floral motifs. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum.

Q&A with Dr. Kenneth Wagner and Sanford Wagner

Vintage Purse Museum: June and Daniel Wagner were both born in Boston and were married in 1933. According to the 1940 US Census, your father, Daniel Wagner (1912-1989, parents Israel and Fannie) and your mother June (1913-2016, parents Morris and Sadie Spinner) lived in Norwalk, CT, where your father co-owned and managed a chain of liquor stores (Norwalk & New Haven) with his brother Philip. They moved to Florida in 1949 due to June's asthma. She worked for Ann Taylor for a short time. Daniel was president of Handicrafts, Inc.

What got them into the handbag business? We found a 1946 ad for “Florida Handicraft on NW 7th Ave.,” which sold “shell jewelry and novelties.” Does this address sound familiar? Is it possible that they purchased this company from the original owner?

Handicrafts, Inc. shell-covered, gold-painted handbag. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum.

Manufacturer mark inside basket bag above.

The Wagners: (The) company name and the business was original. (It) started out as Handicrafts, Inc. on NW 79th St., Miami. June designed and hand painted plates with designs of palm trees with shells on them for coconuts. This spread out to hand-painted and shelled salt and pepper shakers, and many other items. The biggest seller was honey jugs filled with orange blossom honey. The company moved to 9302 NW 22nd Ave, where they rented the building for the duration of the business.

Originally, June dabbled with Lucite bags with beadwork but they did not sell well, so she discontinued making them. The straw handbags came from a traveling salesman, Irwin Baylin, who was living out of his car and appeared at the door. He asked June if she would look at some baskets. June looked at the baskets and immediately said she could paint it white, put some green paper in it, and place the honey jugs inside. Then, after some thought, she said, "I'll bet I could make a ladies handbag out of this. I'll just paint it white, paint on the double lid ‘Sugar & Spice and Everything Nice’ and put inside a mirror and pockets." This was the beginning of the straw handbag business.

Lucite handbag with beads and tiny pink shell decorations by Midas of Miami, from the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum. The Wagner brothers told us that the Lucite bags did not sell well, so June Wagner discontinued making them in favor of straw handbags.

07 Oct 1955, Fri The Miami News (Miami, Florida) Newspapers.com

03 Oct 1956, Wed The Miami News (Miami, Florida) Newspapers.com

VPM: The Vintage Purse Museum’s Handicrafts basket bag has a painted interior logo that says “Miami 47 Florida.” A 1969 directory listing shows Midas of Miami at "9302 N.W. 22nd Ave.” Do you know how long they were at this location? (It’s now a barbecue restaurant.)

TW: They opened in early ‘50s and closed down in 1975.

Flower covered Midas of Miami basket bag. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum.

There was great attention to detail on each Midas of Miami handbag, as evidenced by the top of this one from the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum.

midas miami 17 Nov 1965, Wed Fort Lauderdale News (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) Newspapers.com

Adorable golf-themed, white-painted Midas of Miami basket bag. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum.

Example of a Midas of Miami label. The labels were came with different embroidery colors, and the bags included satin linings in a variety of hues, many with zipper pockets. A great number of Midas of Miami bags were quite large and roomy.

VPM: There also appears to be a 347 Fifth Ave location.* Did they also have a showroom? Did your parents ever go to New York for trade shows or events? Did Sanford?

TW: (This address was) not associated with Midas. Yes, (the) showroom was located at the International Mart on 72nd and Milam Dairy Rd, Miami, Florida. June and Dan went to some trade shows, but (we) can't remember them. They went to Hong Kong to look at and purchase baskets for (the) following year.

*Note from The Vintage Purse Museum: According to the website of The Bag Lady, Midas had an ad showing Crown Originals at this Fifth Avenue address as its contact in the February 1961 edition of the trade publication Handbags & Accessories. This may have been a brief arrangement, as many handbag makers of the era had representation and/or showrooms in Manhattan.

"The Fox and The Grapes" Midas of Miami handbag from the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum, an interpretation of Aesop's fable. The grapes are milk glass.

VPM: Where did they get the name “Midas of Miami?” Could it have come from the gold-painted Handicrafts basket bags?

TW: The name Midas of Miami came from the gold flecks on the plain white bags that were made in (Hong Kong) China. Customers would bring in photos and my mother or other employee artist would duplicate them on velvet with beads and gold filigrees to personalize the handbag. All the gold handles came from Daniel’s designs and (were) made by Fulford Manufacturing Company in Rhode Island. The gold one-way buttons also came from them.

One of a number of fabulous animal-shaped Midas of Miami handbags in the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum. Our elephant appeared on the cover of the August 2009 issue of Antiques & Collecting magazine.

VPM: Did June design these bags?

TW: Yes, all of them. They were all hand assembled. All had custom linings.

VPM: Did she make any herself?

TW: Many, until employees could prove they could do it for each one.

VPM: Did they have employees? How many?

TW: Yes. Seven.

Closeup of a distinctive gold-and-white braided Midas of Miami handle, designed by company co-owner Daniel Wagner and made by Fulford Mfg. The handles also came in braided gold, flat gold, flat gold-and-white and other styles, but bags with the gold-and-white braids are the most recognizable as Midas.

Example of the work done by Fulford Mfg. during the era of Midas of Miami handbags. The distinctive Midas handles were designed by Daniel Wagner and custom-made for Midas by Fulford. Photo of vintage catalog page courtesy of Fulford Mfg.

VPM: In our collection, we have one 1950s Lucite bag with beadwork, many decorated 1960s-1970s basket bags, several animal-shaped decorated straw bags (these in particular are enormously popular with collectors) and one that looks to have been custom-made for the 1968 World’s Fair (it has San Antonio’s Tower of the Americas on it). Can you tell us anything about these designs, their inspiration, how they were made, where they were sold, etc.?

TW: Many of the handbags were custom made and one of a kind, meeting a certain event or customers requested design.

This custom Midas of Miami was created for HemisFair '68 in San Antonio, Texas, featuring the Tower of the Americas. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum.

VPM: In what capacity did Sanford work in the business?

TW: Helped Dan with overseeing general operations and shipping.

VPM: Did your parents know or socialize with other handbag makers in Miami?

TW: Yes, Julius Resnick, who was one of the pioneers of the plastic-coated handbags made and assembled in (Hong Kong) China and imported to the USA.

Midas of Miami basket bag covered in white seed beads. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum.

Bag similar to the one above, but in natural wicker with millinery strawberries. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum.

VPM: According to your mother’s obituary, your parents retired in 1975. Did the Midas of Miami name retire with them or did they sell the company?

TW: Retired with them. Did not sell the company. However, the Handicrafts, Inc. name went with Sandy which he used in his asphalt business.

VPM: It sounds as if they were very active with charitable organizations after their retirement, and June remained involved in community work after your father passed away, and after she married Irwin Ellis Blum (1914-2010) in 1992. Anything else you would like to add about your parents or Midas of Miami?

TW: In June's whole life she was tirelessly involved in Jewish charities and organizations. Her list of involvement and accomplishments are almost too numerous to name. She was the President of the Sisterhood and the Temple in Norwalk, CN, the same at Temple Ner Tamid in Miami Beach where she was also a founder. She served for 11 years as president of the Women's League of Israel, a founder of the Women's Auxiliary at the Douglas Gardens Miami Jewish Home for the Aged, a founder for both Mt. Sinai Hospital and Bar Ilan University in Israel. After 6 years with the American committee for Shaare Zedek, she was honored in 2001 by the city of Miami Beach Commission with "JUNE BLUM DAY" for all her contributions to Jewish causes and organizations. Israel brought June there to recognize her for selling the most bonds towards hospitals and placed her name on a wing of a hospital in Haifa.

***

The Wagner brothers told us that June was a unique designer and pioneer of the straw handbag in America. The Vintage Purse Museum agrees that she most certainly established her place in handbag history by putting her own lively spin on Midas of Miami bags, which remain highly collectible and wearable today.

News-Journal (Mansfield, OH), March 28, 1967 28 Mar 1967, Tue News-Journal (Mansfield, Ohio) Newspapers.com

Special thanks to Dr. Kenneth Wagner, Sanford Wagner, Fulford Manufacturing and Victoria of Vintagiality, without whom we would not have been able to acquire and share this information. c2021 Wendy Dager/The Vintage Purse Museum. Please do not reprint articles or photos from this website without permission from The Vintage Purse Museum, info@vintagepursemuseum.com.