A Minox Memo Historical Reprint.
Originally Published in The Minox Memo
Series 1, Volume 2, Number 1. Summer 1959

TODAY’S WOMAN READY FOR ANYTHING WITH GIANT HANDBAGS

Today’s woman, emancipated — free to roam the world wide—is no longer a few steps from her boudoir closet. In the mid-2Oth Century, she shifts her closet into Gargantuan handbags, some as big as horses’ feed bags.

What about this trend away from the neat change purse to the massive leather or plastic catch-all m’lady lugs with her everywhere? What makes career girls and house wives alike tote walking vanity tables, beauty parlors, medicine cabinets, libraries and even snack counters? What has become of the simple handbag?

Some suggest deep psychological motivation. One psychologist, for instance, guessed that purse-stuffing may be one symptom of the compulsive worrier; the modern woman carries every possible item to meet every contingency from hail storms to hurricanes.
Another psychologist thought that the overstuffed purse was a happy, healthy adjustment to the demands of complex living; but a distinguished male psychologist attributed the whole business to Paris fashion decrees.

Whatever the cause, the over grown handbag fad is here, and the handbag manufacturers are as pleased as punch.

Just to see what purses some times contain, singer Rosemary Clooney and TV actress Gale Storm were asked to dump the contents of their handbags on a table. And what an eye-opening, womanly melange it was!
Miss Clooney’s purse included such items as a box of raisins, a miniature chess set, a pair of glass- heeled dress shoes, a transistor portable radio and an ultra-miniature Minox camera. All these, in addition to clocks and sunglasses, notepads, cosmetics, a manicure set, billfold, a mirror, brush, scarf, family pictures and a set of keys.

Actress Storm’s handbag also had the world’s smallest precision cam era—the Minox, a portable radio, various cosmetics (including her sponsor’s products) a manicure set, a mirror, clock, family pictures, a brush, mad money, notepads and a pair of shoes—lounging type. But she also had a portable fan, miniature opera glasses, a few letters, lots of scarves, books by Dr. Spock and Emerson, pills, baby’s bottles and cough drops.
Research has shown that there are 30 separate items American women consider indispensable. You know what should be in your medicine cabinet, but do you know what should be in your handbag? Take this test and see how you rate.

HANDBAG CONTENTS

TABULATION

1. Lipstick
2. Powder
3. Eyebrow pencil
4. Eye shadow
5. Cleansing tissues or hanky
6. Rouge
7. Perfume or cologne
8. Comb
9. Mirror
10. Brush
11. Keys
12.Coin purse or wallet
13. Emery board
14. Pen and/or pencil
15. Stamps
16. Identification cards (including licenses)
17. Pictures
18. Aspirins or other pills
19. Calenda
20. Address book
21. Note pad or appointment book
22. Needle and thread
23. Gloves
24. Softcover reading material
25. Safety pins
26. Sun glasses
27. Checkbook
28. Charge plates
29. Cigarettes and lighter
30. And, of course a Minox to take pictures anywhere, any time.

Score yourself the following points for each item you carry:

5 points each for items 1, 2, 5, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 21, 28, 30.
4 points each for items 3, 7, 20, 26, 27.
3 points each for items 10, 17, 18, 25, 29.
2 points each for items 4, 6, 15, 19, 22, 23, 24.

If you scored 114 points, you’re compulsive worrier and should probably see an analyst.

If you scored between 90 and 11 points, you’re truly an emancipate American woman who can stay away from home for days on enc Your handbag must be large enough to hold a whale.

If you scored between 75 and 89 points, you’re still above average but you might be caught short.

If you scored between 60 and 74 points, you’re still quite feminine.

However, if you scored 59 point or less . . . you’re a real old-fashioned gal.