SPECIAL POST! Gate Top Handbags - A Pictorial

Gate top silver metal mesh handbag, circa 1940s, missing its label, possibly Whiting & Davis.
The top is embellished with rhinestones. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum.

Dec. 9, 1941, The (Bridgewater, NJ) Courier-News shows a sketch of a "Metal Mesh 'Gate-Top'
Evening Bag" held by an elegant gloved hand, in gold or silver, for $2.98.

Gate Top Handbags – A Pictorial

One of our lovely Instagram friends asked us about a handbag that is commonly referred to as a “beggar’s bag.” We’ve also seen it called an “accordion top” purse. Both terms have made their way into the handbag lexicon, and we’re not sure when they originated. Per our study of old newspaper advertisements, these were generally called “gate top” bags.


This is not to say that they were never referred to as “beggar’s bags” or “accordion tops” when they were created or advertised. It's possible these terms did exist way back when, or they may have been adopted in more recent years. As we’ve mentioned in previous articles, terminology changes and evolves with all types of vintage items, and sometimes descriptors catch on with collectors and vintage sellers, and become used more frequently than the original monikers. 

We also do not know what gate top bags were called in countries outside of the US and Canada as we've only seen advertisements in American and Canadian newspapers. If you are from an English speaking country that is not the US or Canada, and you've seen these called "beggar's bags" or another name in a 1930s-1950s advertisement, please email the ad to us at vintagepursemuseum@gmail.com, and we will update this post and credit you. Or, if you are in the US or Canada and have a vintage ad for these bags with a name that is not "gate top" or "gate frame," please email us. We are always happy to add documented information to our articles.

The top portion of this style of bag is an expandable metal frame (kind of like a miniature version of a metal folding security gate), which spreads out to make the opening wider so that the contents of one's bag are more accessible. Usually—although not always—the gate is covered with a cap. That cap can be plain or decorative, with engraving or rhinestones or some other embellishment. The bag portion is generally a pouch shape. Some bags are lined, others are not. Some may have originally been lined, but lost their lining to time and use.

Whiting & Davis is perhaps the best known maker of the gate top handbag. Theirs were attached to their trademark metal mesh bags, but many other manufacturers used this type of expandable top in their products. 

Gate tops were even sold in stores for home-crafters to sew onto their own bags. Contemporary versions of the gate top are still available for purchase by those looking for handbag hardware, and we’ve seen them referred to online as “flexible purse frames” or “expandable gate tops.”

Pictured below are gate top bags from the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum, along with newspaper ads (clipped via paid subscription to Newspapers.com). While we don't know for sure when these bags started being marketed to the public, these photos and advertisements give a glimpse of their timeline.

This article and photos c2024 by Wendy Dager/The Vintage Purse Museum. Please do not use info or photos from our website without requesting permission, vintagepursemuseum@gmail.com.

Earliest ad we could find that mentions"gate top bag," Dec. 12, 1912, the Salt Lake Telegram. We can't be sure that this refers to the expandable gate top as we know it as there is no corresponding sketch.

This is the earliest gate top bag from The Vintage Purse Museum's collection. It is circa 1900s-1910s,
with a pouch made of yarn and steel beads, most likely homemade.
It is small, but heavy for its size due to the beads. The top does not have a cap.

Sept. 9, 1920, The Brantford (Ontario, Canada) Expositor; an ad for gate tops marketed to home-crafters.

Here's where some confusion occurs. The "gate top" in this Dec. 14, 1926 ad from The Brooklyn Daily Eagle refers to the black bag at the far left. It clearly does not have the traditional expandable gate top, however, other 1920s ads we found for this style were more often called "gate frame." This more than likely refers to a "facile" frame opening rather than the expandable opening of a gate top. The facile frame was used for decades by many handbag makers.

This treasured piece from the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum is a souvenir of the 1936 Berlin Olympics, made of ring mesh with a gate top. It is alleged that these were given as gifts to wives of diplomats who attended the Olympics, but we could not find official documentation to verify this. We believe the Olympic rings originally had enamel coloring.

This is the earliest ad we could find for a Whiting & Davis gate top bag, Dec. 22, 1938,
The Oakland Post Enquirer.

Gold metal mesh Whiting & Davis gate top bag, circa 1940s.

Bag above, with gate top expanded.

Whiting & Davis gold mesh gate top bag sketched in The Daily Oklahoman, Dec. 15, 1940.

Jul. 18, 1947 Philadelphia Inquirer ad for Magid gate-top bags. Note the "remember when..." alluding to the earlier days of the gate top.

Whiting & Davis marketed a number of its styles for many years, which sometimes makes
them difficult to date. This ad is from The Miami News, Feb. 8, 1948.

We've seen several references to the gate top bag as being "Victorian" style, possibly as homage to the drawstring reticule of the Victorian era. Ad from the Newport News Daily Press, Dec. 19, 1948.

Black velvet pouch and handle with gold metal gate top with Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity symbol. We believe this to be from the 1940s, perhaps homemade by the sweetheart of a fraternity member.
From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum.

August 28, 1954, Pittsburgh Sun Telegraph advertisement for DIY instructions to make one's
own bags and hats. This handbag is a typical style for a home-crafter of this era,
but the gate top closure was less frequently used than other types, including handles and drawstrings.

Unlabeled plastic-bead fabric with gold metal chain and gate top without cap. No maker tag.
This was likely made in Hong Kong in the 1960s-1970s and imported to the US. This style is often mistakenly thought to be of an earlier era due to its old-fashioned design. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum.

Gate top metal mesh bag, made in Korea to commemorate the 1988 Seoul Olympics. On the front of the bag is Hodori the tiger, mascot of the games. The original box calls it a "metal mesh wallet." From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum.