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| Judith Leiber pocket watch bag, from the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum. |
The Watch Bag: A Timely Pictorial
This post is a bit of a departure for The Vintage Purse Museum, as we usually do extensive research, then write articles that are as complete as possible about our historical subjects. As you may already know, our content consists of information about vintage bags, the materials that were used to fabricate them, and the manufacturers and designers that were the creative geniuses of the handbag industry. In this case, the true origin of the timepiece attached to a bag is more than likely lost to... you guessed it... time. Therefore, we felt that the evolution of the fabulous watch bag was better left to photos, newspaper advertisements and articles (and a surprise piece of watch purse-related ephemera!), with a bit of commentary.
What we can tell you for certain is that bags with attached watches have been around for more than a hundred years. They come in all styles and materials, and were upscale or affordable, depending on maker. There were also an endless number of bags with real and toy watches for children, and non-working clock and watch motifs on countless handbags and accessories. Even today, despite our ability to easily check the time on our mobile phones, novelty watch bags are still being made.
Enjoy these photos of bags from our collection, as well as bonus facts, and chronological ads and information culled from a newspaper archive to which we subscribe. Be sure to scroll all the way down!
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The earliest advertisement we could find for a combination watch and handbag was the one directly below, from 1906. This does not mean that they were not made earlier. (Publication dates and names of newspapers are beneath each ad, linked from Newspapers.com.)
09 Apr 1906, Mon The Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney, New South Wales, New South Wales, Australia) Newspapers.com1906. Watch built into the top handle.
18 Nov 1906, Sun The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts) Newspapers.com1909. $21 would have been a splurge in the early 1900s. The average banker, while thought of as having a high-paying career, "only" made about $1,600 per year in 1909. But the store that ran this ad was Mark Cross, and the newspaper was The New York Times, so they were clearly targeting the topmost layer of the upper crust.
31 Mar 1909, Wed The New York Times (New York, New York) Newspapers.com1910. The ad mentions the chatelaine ("watch dangling from the bodice"), and that this design is "not quite new," although it doesn't give a definitive date for the invention of the watch bag.
22 Nov 1910, Tue Herald News (Joliet, Illinois) Newspapers.comAd from 1913 that explains watch placement on different types of bags.
30 Sep 1913, Tue The Evening Sun (Baltimore, Maryland) Newspapers.comAnother 1913 ad calls this a "new fad," but it started at least seven years prior. It could be that 1913 was when the trend finally took off. Also, we've learned during our years of research that whenever there is a mention of "Paris" (in this case, in reference to a hat) or "France," it is likely an enticement (marketing ploy) for US consumers to purchase the latest in sophisticated European fashions. While many trends did originate in Paris, we couldn't find evidence that the watch bag was initially a French invention.
02 Dec 1913, Tue Los Angeles Evening Express (Los Angeles, California) Newspapers.com1914.
07 Jun 1914, Sun Chicago Tribune (Chicago, Illinois) Newspapers.com1922. The watch bag was carried into the next decade.
28 Sep 1922, Thu The Evening Sun (Baltimore, Maryland) Newspapers.com.jpeg) |
| Child's purse with toy watch, 1920s-1930s. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum. It was common for children's purses to be styled and advertised as "just like mother's." |
12 Aug 1928, Sun The Cincinnati Enquirer (Cincinnati, Ohio) Newspapers.com1933. "Bengaline" is a rayon-cotton blend.
20 Oct 1933, Fri The Buffalo News (Buffalo, New York) Newspapers.com1935. Vintage Westclox clocks are very collectible, and the company is still in business today. This advertisement is also for New Haven (another watch and clock manufacturer) watch bags, and muff watch bags.
14 Nov 1935, Thu The Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn, New York) Newspapers.com1936. A more formal watch bag, decorated with rhinestones. The ad says this "dressy version" is appropriate for "afternoon," rather than calling it an evening bag. Impress the neighbors when you arrive for tea!
21 Jan 1936, Tue Detroit Free Press (Detroit, Michigan) Newspapers.com.jpeg) |
| Elegant satin watch bag by Style-Art by Holzman, with rhinestone encrusted clasp and watch by Cimier. Max Holzman is perhaps best known as the designer who created the Mark Cross travel bag carried by Grace Kelly in 1954's "Rear Window." Watch bag from the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum. |
1936. Celanese was one of the many companies that revolutionized the use of plastics. Read our article about the types of plastics used in handbags here.
05 Mar 1936, Thu Salt Lake Telegram (Salt Lake City, Utah) Newspapers.com |
| Vogue ad mentioned in newspaper ad above it, screenshot from Vogue, March 1, 1936, issue 87. These very same bags cost 2 cents more in the Vogue ad than those in the newspaper. This could've been a marketing tactic known as psychological pricing, whereby the typical Vogue reader likely would not be deterred by the higher number, while the average newspaper subscriber might. |
1936, another newspaper ad with "as advertised in Vogue," a prestigious fashion magazine. Order form from Loveman, Joseph & Loeb, a Birmingham, Alabama department store (est. 1887, defunct 1980).
06 Mar 1936, Fri The Birmingham News (Birmingham, Alabama) Newspapers.com1936. Pyralin (trade name for celluloid; meant to imitate ivory) was a product of the DuPont Company, and was often used in the manufacture of toilette accessories such as mirrors and brushes.
13 Mar 1936, Fri The Miami Herald (Miami, Florida) Newspapers.com1936. Several companies made real watch bags for children, while others created purses with toy watches.
06 Mar 1936, Fri The Buffalo News (Buffalo, New York) Newspapers.com1937. While we can't say for sure that the rectangular watch face was unusual, there are fewer watch bag ads for this shape.
23 Sep 1937, Thu Chicago Tribune (Chicago, Illinois) Newspapers.comIntriguing 1939 article citing yet another unnamed "French designer" and a handbag made in the style of a watch face. The mysterious Anne Marie of Paris, whose handbags are very collectible, made a suede clock-shaped bag, but there is no evidence that this is in reference to one of her whimsical designs.
03 Jul 1939, Mon Press and Sun-Bulletin (Binghamton, New York) Newspapers.com1940. The watch bag has officially entered its third decade of popularity.
28 May 1940, Tue Detroit Free Press (Detroit, Michigan) Newspapers.com1949. For in-depth information about the 20% handbag tax in the fine print of this ad, read this book by the curator of The Vintage Purse Museum.
08 Aug 1949, Mon The Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) Newspapers.com.jpeg) |
| Rayon watch bag by Ingber, with Americana brand watch. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum. |
04 Nov 1949, Fri Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minnesota) Newspapers.com1950. Evans carry-all with watch in the strap (top sketch). We have this bag in our collection (see below).
23 Nov 1950, Thu The Sacramento Bee (Sacramento, California) Newspapers.com.jpeg) | ||
Exterior of 1949-1950 Evans leather carry-all with Valjean watch, from the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum.
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10 Dec 1950, Sun Detroit Free Press (Detroit, Michigan) Newspapers.com.jpeg) |
| Evans brown leather shoulder bag with Valjean watch, circa 1950, from the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum. |
15 Nov 1953, Sun The Cincinnati Enquirer (Cincinnati, Ohio) Newspapers.com.jpeg) |
| Brocade hinged clutch by Majestic with watch by Ingraham. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum. |
12 Dec 1954, Sun Daily Press (Newport News, Virginia) Newspapers.comFront and back of early- to mid-1950s unused girls' and boys' names "punch board," which gives a chance to win a watch handbag. (From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum.) The punch board was a form of gambling that was alleged to be a scam as early as the 1800s. By the 1930s, it was often referred to as the "punch board racket." Still, the punch board existed for decades. Prizes varied, and included items such as hosiery, Zippo lighters, candy, cigarettes and more. There was even a punch board game on the television show The Price is Right. The "girls name" punch board was developed in the late 1940s.
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| Gambling "punch board," from the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum. |
1955. Frank Milch was an innovative designer and elegant gentleman. We don't have one of his watch handbags, but we do have a Milch bag that once concealed a transistor radio! For more about the history of Frank Milch, read our article.
03 Apr 1955, Sun The Daily Oklahoman (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) Newspapers.com.jpeg) |
| 1950s opaque vinyl handbag with clock and compass motif. No maker name. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum. |
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| Trio of 1950s children's toy watch bags. Left: Red vinyl bag with toy watch in the strap. Top: Velvet clutch with clock motif by Novelena. Right: Musical vinyl plaid bag with plastic Scottie dogs and clock. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum. |
31 Mar 1957, Sun The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California) Newspapers.com.jpeg) |
| Brown embossed reptile pattern bag, no maker name, with Genova watch. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum. |
09 Oct 1958, Thu The Wichita Eagle (Wichita, Kansas) Newspapers.com.jpeg) |
| Black leather watch bag by Triangle with Genova watch. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum. |
1958. "New fashion idea" is over 50 years old at this point.
13 Nov 1958, Thu Tucson Daily Citizen (Tucson, Arizona) Newspapers.com.jpeg) |
| Pocket watch motif enamel-over-metal powder compact, circa 1950s. No maker name. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum. |
14 Dec 1958, Sun Lansing State Journal (Lansing, Michigan) Newspapers.com.jpeg) |
| Sheffield watch wallet/clutch with original guarantee. Watch also has the Sheffield brand name. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum. |
1959.
18 Nov 1959, Wed Chicago Tribune (Chicago, Illinois) Newspapers.com |
| Handbag very much like the bag in the advertisement below, with removable Hanover watch that can be worn as a wrist watch. In the 1960s, "Basque" fabric was another word for the hopsack material that was also sometimes called "Nova Tweed." From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum. |
1960.
22 Nov 1960, Tue The Times (Shreveport, Louisiana) Newspapers.com1961.
22 Dec 1961, Fri The Tulsa Tribune (Tulsa, Oklahoma) Newspapers.com1966. The Milch watch bag was sold for over a decade.
11 Sep 1966, Sun The Daily Oklahoman (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) Newspapers.com |
| The Vintage Purse Museum's Judith Leiber watch bag (also pictured at the top of this post). It is white patent leather, with gold corded lining and side push-button opening. The detachable watch has the Judith Leiber name. We believe this dates to the 1960s-1970s, and have reached out to several Leiber archives for verification, but have not yet received a reply. UPDATE: March 21, 2024. We found another Judith Leiber watch bag in the archives of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. It is from 1969, so we were pretty close! |
15 Sep 1967, Fri Winston-Salem Journal (Winston-Salem, North Carolina) Newspapers.com1968. A letter to a columnist complaining that a luggage repair shop lost the watch from her watch bag two years earlier.
13 May 1968, Mon Asbury Park Press (Asbury Park, New Jersey) Newspapers.com1969. Child's watch bag. The ad is unclear as to whether this is a real working watch.
13 Mar 1969, Thu The News and Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina) Newspapers.com1970. "Neva-Wet" was a waterproofing process. We found ads for "Neva-Wet" products dating back to the 1930s.
05 Mar 1970, Thu Portsmouth Daily Times (Portsmouth, Ohio) Newspapers.com |
| 1960s-1970s shoulder bag with a Sloan travel alarm. We believe this was a DIY watch bag, and that the clock is not original to the purse. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum. |
1974.
10 Mar 1974, Sun The Danville Register (Danville, Virginia) Newspapers.com |
1977 Timmy Woods embossed reptile pattern leather bag with Fossil watch. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum.
 10 Sep 1987, Thu Evansville Press (Evansville, Indiana) Newspapers.com
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| Brown satin bag with gold and rhinestone pocket watch-shaped clasp and convertible shoulder strap, circa 1980s. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum. |
Ads and articles from Newspapers.com, to which we have a paid subscription. This article c2023 by Wendy Dager/The Vintage Purse Museum. Please do not use information or photos from our website without permission, info@vintagepursemuseum.com.
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