SPECIAL POST: Fun and Functional Novelty Beach Bags by Bonne Age

Adorable strawberry-shaped Bonne Age beach bag, circa 1960. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum.

Ad with sketch of strawberry beach bag that appears at the top of the page. The Lincoln Journal Star, May 24, 1960, clipped via subscription to Newspapers.com. 

Bonne Age Novelty Beach Bags

Our collection of Bonne Age novelty beach bags began a decade or so ago with a single giant red boot. We wanted to learn more about it, but it wasn't until we were researching an unrelated maker that we started an investigation into the origins of Bonne Age. (Newspaper ad and photo of our boot below.)

May 23, 1958, The (Port Chester, NY) Daily Item, clipped via subscription to Newspapers.com.

Bonne Age red boot beach bag, 1957-1958, missing its original laces. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum.

In 2019, we reached out to a research librarian in the Prints and Photographs division at the Library of Congress about an archived 1957 Look magazine ad featuring the aforementioned unrelated maker, and she kindly sent us a photocopy of it. This ad (directly below) also has a photo of an array of delightful Bonne Age bags. This is what inspired us to do more research. 

1957 Look magazine ad for Bonne Age bags, sent to us by a research librarian at the Library of Congress.

We started our initial search of the story of Bonne Age in 2020, but the pandemic happened, and then our curator—along with The Vintage Purse Museum collection—made a big move to another state. 

Six years later, with four of these fabulous bags now in our collection, as well as an original 1956 photograph of a woman holding a Bonne Age clock-shaped bag, we returned to our research. We're happy to report that we've also been in touch with close family members of the key players in the production and promotion of the Bonne Age brand.

These include the Israel family, whose relatives owned Bonne Age's parent company Regal Knitwear, and the son of Vivian Auerbach, Regal's fashion director. They graciously helped fill in some of the blanks. We've added their invaluable contributions to this article, along with information from our usual resources, including newspaper archives, trade publications, and genealogy websites.

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Regal Knitwear

Label sewn inside boot bag above.

Paper tags included with boot-shaped Bonne Age bag.

The advertising card (above) that came with the boot bag stated that Bonne Age Inc. was formerly Kent Knitwear Co., and that Bonne Age was "an affiliate of Regal Knitwear." The earliest newspaper reference we could find to Regal Knitwear was from 1942*. We also found an announcement from a 1949 issue of the trade publication Textile World stating that Kent Knitwear was "chartered with capital of 600 shares of stock...to operate (a) mill for (the) production of knit goods for women," and that its principal incorporator was Julius Israel. So it appears that both businesses operated simultaneously for a time. *Update: Shortly after publication of this article, we found a reference in a 1929 issue of the trade publication Infants and Children's Wear Review to "Regal Knitting Co., Inc.'s" establishment in 1920 by Harris Israel (1867-1941), David Israel, Julius Israel, and the treasurer of the company, Benjamin Bearnot (1884-1960). Harris Israel was the father of David and Julius.

Julius Israel (1900-1971) was the brother of David Harris Israel (1894-1959), and both were executives of Regal Knitwear. They were later joined at the company by David's sons Howard (1925-1976), Justin (1927-2016), and Charles (1932-2025). All of the brothers were accomplished in many aspects of their lives. 

According to a 1959 article in the trade publication Infants & Children's Review, David was chairman of the board of Regal, and Julius was its president. Howard, it said, had been attending pre-law classes, but gave them up to join the family firm. We also found a 1961 newspaper profile (excerpted below) about Howard and his work. This article says that he was the designer for Regal Knitwear, and had left law school to attend the Fashion Institute of Technology to learn sketching, draping, and pattern-making.

Howard Israel, December 24, 1961, The Tacoma News Tribune, clipped via subscription to Newspapers.com.

"Howard, the oldest brother, was exceptionally creative, and I believe he was an important creative force behind the Bonne Age novelty accessories," wrote Rob Israel, Justin's son, in an email to us.

Charles Israel's wife Sandy agreed. She told us in an email: "Charles always said how ahead of his time and creative Howard was."

Regal Knitwear specialized in children's apparel, including dresses, swimwear, and sweaters. They did many cross-promotions with other brands in unrelated industries, including Planter's, featuring Mr. Peanut, as evidenced in the ad below. We learned more about these brand collaborations from Vivian Auerbach's son, which we'll address later in this article.

Regal Knitwear ad, August 18, 1968, the Arizona Daily Star. Note the collaboration with Mr. Peanut. Clipped via Newspapers.com.

Rob Israel wrote: "Regal’s New York headquarters were at 1333 Broadway, and, fascinatingly, the Library of Congress has a series of photographs taken inside Regal in 1944, including the showrooms, stockroom and shipping department." 

Rob also told us: "One particularly exciting discovery is that my father Justin gave a recorded oral history in 2000 to the American Jewish Historical Society specifically discussing his father’s entry into the garment business and Regal Knitwear as a family company."

Another vital employee of Regal Knitwear was the vivacious Vivian Auerbach (1928-2012), who was working for Petiteen Fashions when she married Walter Rothschild (1923-2007) in 1950. They had one child, Rich, who The Vintage Purse Museum's curator spoke with over the phone. Vivian and Walter owned a children's clothing store from about 1954 until 1958, which is when she started working for Regal Knitwear as its fashion director, eventually moving up the ladder to vice president.

Vivian Auerbach, featured February 7, 1965, in the LNP Lancaster (PA) Online, clipped via subscription to Newspapers.com.

"She was a fiery dynamic person, and a great mom," said Rich. "She was very creative and she loved working, and she was very successful." Rich recalled that she had lots of samples from Regal Knitwear around the house.

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The Beach Bags

The Bonne Age trademark was filed in 1961 ("for poncho towels, leotards and cotton shirts"), and claimed use of the trademark since 1958. However, the earliest newspaper ad we could find for a Bonne Age product was from May 24, 1956. Interestingly, that particular ad (not pictured) was for a child's swimsuit by Regal, with coordinating hat by Bonne Age. An ad for Bonne Age beach bags appeared June 1, 1956, just eight days later, in a different newspaper. One of the sketches in that ad matches the clock bag in the photo from our collection. (Below.)

Original photograph, hand-dated 1956, from the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum. We were surprised when we first saw it because we immediately recognized it as a Bonne Age bag from the ad below, which we'd seen previously during our research.

Bonne Age ad with clock bag, June 1, 1956, The (Massillon, Ohio) Evening Independent, clipped via subscription to Newspapers.com.

Lynn Israel, Justin's daughter, wrote to us in an email: "I remember the beach bags so well. There was one shaped like a watermelon and ones that were round: an orange and lemon. I loved them and had them all! Wish I kept them! They had matching bathing suits, too!"

Lynn told us that it was her understanding, per her father, that Howard Israel came up with the designs for these bags. "He was one of the creative smarts behind the business at the time, however his dad, David, thought his ideas were kind of out there," she wrote. 

On behalf of the many vintage bag aficionados that follow The Vintage Purse Museum, we're very glad that patriarch David let his son run wild with these ideas!

Howard patented several beach bags, including one with a clown face, and one called a "carrying bag," with Bonne Age as the assignee and Howard Israel as its inventor. (While our focus for this article is on Bonne Age bags, it should be noted that Regal Knitwear was a prolific company that had numerous patented products and trademarked sub-brands.)

One of Howard Israel's patents for a Bonne Age bag, screenshot from Google Patents.

By 1958, it seems quite likely that Regal Knitwear execs realized that their children's novelty bags were appealing to the adult market. Vivian Auerbach was quoted as saying in the advertorial below: "People want to be different, so they buy spectacular accessories for the beach or country club pool. The trend toward these crazy items is growing." The advertorial cited the top seller for Bonne Age as a penguin-shaped bag, with "watermelons, lemon and orange slices, a pink hand, and a 14-inch boot" as other popular designs.

January 2, 1958, the Bristol Herald Courier, clipped via subscription to Newspapers.com.

As we mentioned previously, Regal Knitwear collaborated with non-apparel brands, such as Planter's peanuts, which Vivian Auerbach's son Rich distinctly remembered. 

Rich told us that his mother "...did a lot of cross-marketing, where she set up major promotions." He said one advertising campaign focused on how "little girls felt like a princess when they were dressed in Regal." There were, he said, "...print ads with an American Airlines pilot holding a crown over a little girl in a Regal outfit."

One of The Vintage Purse Museum's Bonne Age beach bags is a Canada Dry ginger ale bottle (below), and is clearly one of these cross-promotions. There were also Bonne Age bags in the shape of cigarette packs (specifically Newport cigarettes), typewriters, and chewing gum.

Bonne Age Canada Dry ginger ale-shaped beach bag, from the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum. On the front is a copyright date of 1960. The bag is 19 inches long, not counting the strap,

Prior to the Canada Dry beach bag, Bonne Age had a 1958 deal with Decca Records to produce record-shaped beach bags with their label. They also produced a generic "disc bag" as a parody: "Victor Hugo Records" (clever!), and the song "You Are Nothing But a Hot Dog" by "Elvis Prelzel."  (Decca announcement, our Bonne Age "disc bag," and an ad for it directly below.)

1958 announcement in Billboard Magazine, clipped via Google Books.

Bonne Age record-shaped bag, from the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum.

Close up of the bag above.

Ad for Bonne Age "disc bag," May 14, 1959, The (San Antonio, Texas) News, clipped via Newspapers.com.

By the early 1960s, the company was also producing beach towels, ponchos, and terrycloth beach robes. These were initially meant for Regal Knitwear's primary demographic of children, pre-teens, and teens, but some were concentrated on the adult market, featuring products with "zany" and more mature themes. (Example below.)

May 15, 1960, ad for Bonne Age beach towel, marketed toward adults, the Brooklyn Daily, clipped via Newspapers.com.

The most recent advertisement we could find for Bonne Age beach bags was from 1962. (Directly below.) We believe the line was discontinued shortly thereafter.

July 6, 1962, The (Hackensack, NJ) Record, clipped via Newspapers.com.

David Israel passed away in 1959, and his brother Julius Israel continued as president of Bonne Age. Regal Knitwear appears to have closed its doors after the death of Julius in 1971. Per a search of the State of New York business entity database, Regal Knitwear was officially dissolved in 1980. 

In 1965, David's sons Justin and Charles formed their own clothing company, Justin Charles. Both eventually went on to other ventures.

Vivian Auerbach left Regal in 1968, and went to work for McCall's magazine. Her son Rich was on the cover of one of its issues. Later, she worked for a TV production company. 

The Vintage Purse Museum was very excited to document the history of this company, but what makes it even more special is that we got to know two lovely families, as well as learn of the origins of many wonderfully whimsical ideas and truly innovative marketing.

Special thanks to the Israel family, Rob, Sandy, Lynn, Linda, and Renee, and to Rich and Lynda Rothschild. Resources used were Newspapers.com, MyHeritage.com, and OldNews.com, to which we have paid subscriptions. Other resources were the Library of Congress, Google, Internet Archive, and FamilySearch. This article c2026 by Wendy Dager/The Vintage Purse Museum. Please do not use photos or information from our website without requesting permission, vintagepursemuseum@gmail.com.