>Antique Tuesday

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Thanks for your comments on my last post! I hope everyone had a nice holiday. I had a wonderful time visiting my family in Pennsylvania. I also had a good time shopping! Most people probably went shopping for holiday gifts on Black Friday, or even on Cyber Monday, but not me! I went thrift store shopping! :D

There is a little known secret about Erie, PA, that I haven't mentioned yet - Marian's Next to New. Marian's is a second hand shop with very quick turn-over of merchandise. Marian's offers gently worn/used items at great prices! There is pretty much everything you can think of - jewelry, clothes, shoes, housewares, childrens' items, vintage electronics, and books. There is something for everyone, and for me there is usually a beaded handbag or two! Here are the bags I've found there so far.

The first one is actually a bag I found at Marian's last year. This handbag was made in Japan. It is rather modern, but I loved it's bead-embroidered design. It is also in very good shape! :D

I found the second two bags while shopping on Black Friday of this year. The first one does not have a tag inside, so I am not exactly sure where it was made. I think it was made in either the Czech Republic or Japan. It was made on a loom, and it closes with a zipper. I am not exactly sure of it's age, but I'm guessing it was made around the middle of last century. It will need a bit of cleaning, but otherwise it is in very good condition, with almost all of the beads intact. You can see the designs on the front and back below:

The third bag is my favourite! It is just a small bead-embroidered coin purse, but it has a very modern artistic design! It has a tag inside which says 'Made in Czechoslovakia' so I am guessing it was made in the 1920's or 30's... It is very beautiful, and it is almost like new! No beads are missing! :D

It looks like I'm slowly building up a small collection of these antique beaded handbags! How old do you think they are? What do you think is the best method to safely clean them without damaging the threads? And, what did you buy over the weekend? Hope you found something as fabulous as I did! :D