A Sea of Red

I should be afraid--very, very afraid. As I look at the number of red handbags surrounding me in my office, it suddenly dawns on me that people might think I'm, well, that I'm a member of the Red Hat Society or some other color-centric group.

But, no. I just had a good week finding red handbags, even though my opportunities to scout have been greatly restricted by my mother's new medical appointments--physical therapy--in addition to her other appointments and everyone else's. And if you ever have gone to therapy yourself or taken someone, you know you just don't go once--you go three times a week! Needless to say, I am not doing a lot of writing right now and not a lot of hunting for bags. But Friday and Saturday were good--no one had any appointments so I was able to zoom off on my own.

The weekend's booty included four red bags in addition to several other interesting bags. Yes, FOUR! They were all shapes and eras--a 1950s handbag, a 60s small suede shoulder bag made in Italy, a hard-side patent leather shoulder bag from a division of Etra--33 East--probably from the 70s, and--best of all--a Mark Cross shoulder bag made in Italy. Wow!

As I go on my treasure hunts, it never ceases to amaze me how much "stuff" there is in this country. Our homes are miniature receiving docks where we take in all of the unnecessary things we've been convinced we need. Garage sales, church rummage sales, and thrift store donations (and now eBay) are where we Americans purge our overload.

But we continue to collect. At least a lot of us do. I recently heard a woman say, "I don't have any collections in my house." Well, goody for her. She must live alone and be very disciplined. Everyone in my house collects something: books, Ghostbusters toys, old movie scripts, pottery, clocks. The cat even had a collection of different color drinking straws that she hid under the throw rugs. Our collections give us comfort and a sense of uniqueness. Me--I'm just seeing red right now and loving it!

P.S. If anyone out there is a member of the Antique Purse Collector's Society, I'd appreciate knowing if you find the membership valuable. I'm thinking of joining, but at $25 I'd like some feedback first. Thanks!