Saturday, December 27, 2008

Briefcase Purse with Real Working Phone. 1970s. Maker unknown, but likely Dallas Handbags. Black faux alligator bag with pushbuttons, giant grommets to resemble an old-fashioned phone dial, black plastic handset and a wire inside to connect it to a phone jack. The handset fits inside the handle on top and there’s a detachable strap (not pictured).

The most desirable of these handbags are the red ones, but I was lucky enough to score this black one for a fairly reasonable price.

Completely unrelated side story: My husband, a telecommunications contractor, owned one of the first cellular phones in the mid-1980s. It was huge and heavy and came in a hard-sided briefcase. We had a friend in the mobile phone business, so he sold it to us "wholesale." I cried when I wrote out the check for $1,350. I'll never forget the amount—it was more than our mortgage payment!

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4 comments:

Monica said...

I have heard of these~ wow you actually have one~ very cool

VintagePurseGal said...

This is one of my more recent purchases. I guess it's good that I took a year off from this blog... during that time, I definitely added to my collection!

Charlene said...

This bag is so cool! Enjoyed your story also. Just amazing. Wonder how long it will be before the iPurse! ha!

VintagePurseGal said...

Thanks, Charlene! Good to hear from you. I hope to have a new post up soon! (iPurse... I wouldn't be surprised!)