2023 Update

We're doggedly determined to do some local exhibits!

Time for our 2023 report! 

The Vintage Purse Museum has gotten a lot of new social media followers on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok (@vintagepursegal), likely due to the fact that so many people were spending most of their time at home during the pandemic. 

However, we'd like to think we're innovators in terms of an online museum experience, as we started The Vintage Purse Museum over ten years ago. Yep! We can't believe it's been that long, either.

We moved to Tucson, Arizona in April, 2020, and have since added many photos, handbag facts, and historical articles to our Photo and History Archive. Our focus is recording handbag history before it's lost to time, so we've been reaching out to relatives of midcentury bag-makers, as well as researching a newspaper archive and a genealogy website to help us with our historical articles.

We also acquired a cataloging app that's helping us better inventory our vast collection of approximately 3,000 handbags, purse accessories, and bag-related ephemera.

Since our arrival to Tucson, we've done a number of online presentations, and one in-person exhibit and talk. We'd like to do more! If you're a member of a Tucson-based organization that would like us to give a talk or set up an exhibit for your fundraiser, send us an email. We can even create themed exhibits. For instance, if you are part of an animal rescue, we can do a showing of handbags featuring all kinds of animals, including dogs, cats, horses and fish.

If you are a member or organizer of a vehicle club, automobile museum or car show, we've got the bags!

A fan of flowers, gardens or trees? We've got all kinds of floral-themed purses.

Let us custom create an interesting and informative experience for your group. Email info@vintagepursemuseum.com for more information.

2022 Update

It's been a difficult two years, to say the very least. We offer empathy and sympathy to those who've suffered the loss of loved ones, had emotional or financial hardships, or are just plain trying to get through the news every day.

The RV Purse Museum has been put on the back burner for a bit, although we still want to get 'er done! It's about two-thirds complete, and our hope is to continue to fix it up and then do some fabulous handbag exhibits. Meanwhile, we have the ability to exhibit at your indoor venue. We're even up for matching your theme. For instance, if you're fundraising for a pet rescue, we can show all animal-motif bags. If you're into flowers, we've got a ton of floral-embellished vintage purses. If you like piña coladas and getting caught in the rain... we'll figure something out! 

For our friends in Tucson who are planning events and want to sponsor a handbag presentation, send us an email: info@vintagepursemuseum.com.

Greetings From Tucson, Arizona!

The RV Purse Museum being prepped for paint in its new home in Tucson.

It's been quite a while since we posted, but we have some great news to share, along with a story about some literal bumps in the road.

2019 was the year we decided to move from Simi Valley, California to Tucson, Arizona. These plans derailed our work on the Rolling Vintage Purse Museum. 

We sold our home in California in early 2020, and then Covid happened. We were very lucky that the sale went through, considering the circumstances.

We lived in our trailer (not the vintage Land Commander, but a modern travel trailer!) on a friend's property for just a few weeks until we found the perfect mid-century home in Tucson in April 2020.

And here we are! 

But, as we said, there were some bumps. We had a very difficult time getting a reliable transport company to move our trailer and its tow vehicle, a 1960 Chevy panel truck, from California to Arizona. In fact, the first company we hired broke the radiator drain plug trying to get the truck onto the wrong-size ramp. Through a field. In the dark. 🙄

When we finally found a company that seemed a little better, they managed to deliver the vintage truck and trailer to our new home in Tucson. Wow, were we relieved to see them show up!

Then the driver told us that somewhere between California and Arizona, the entire viewing window--which Mike painstakingly created incorporating the original Aristocrat Land Commander glass window--had flown off. The driver noticed it was missing when he pulled over to take a break from driving. Hence, the literal bump--or bumps--or something like that--in the road, shaking loose our window and flinging it into the desert somewhere.

Well, by now you know our intrepid Mike. The trailer already has a new viewing window, unfortunately without the original glass, but still there for us to remove when we have our handbag exhibits, hopefully starting some time this year.

He also put more of the rubberized coating on the top, front and back of the trailer and is getting ready to paint it. The panel truck will be painted to match. Stay tuned for more updates!

Viewing Window Update

Check out the removable viewing window! Mike incorporated the original louvered trailer window when he built this piece out of wood. It is firmly secured with interior locks, and it lifts out to make it easy for visitors to see the exhibit without having to step inside.

Nighttime view, window removed. How about those interior lights? :)

Floor is In!

Here are some pics of the floor. Great job, Mike!

And here's one of the original "confetti" Formica tables, mounted in the front inside corner of the trailer. We'll be reupholstering the original metal frame for the couch soon. Mike made the wood base for it, which is positioned next to the table.

Video Progress Report - April 2019

Hello 2019!

We're still here and we're still working on our Rolling Vintage Purse Museum! Our contractor Mike had a busy 2018 with his day job, so the trailer took a bit of a backseat. (Is that a pun? We'll just say it is.)

Our tow vehicle, a 1960 Chevy panel truck, also had its share of unforeseeable issues last year--including some major engine work--but that's finally resolved (knocking wood, and various mechanical parts). All it needs now is a paint job!

Mike moved the trailer from its small storage area to a bigger workspace. Here it is, all primered and ready for more work. After he gets the flooring in, the next step is to change out the viewing window. Because its original incarnation was super heavy, it would've required special hinges to suspend it up high, which we decided wouldn't be the best design. Instead, Mike is creating a lighter-weight removable panel that still allows people to look at the handbag exhibit from outside the trailer. The configuration is kind of like what you might see in a food truck.

Don't worry--the only tasty treats we plan for our RV are for your eyes! Keep watching and we'll keep updating!

Back to work on the trailer, January 2019!

Flooring going in February 2019!