Vintage 1960s Elegant Slim Bonwit Teller Magid Silk Evening Clutch Bag with Change Purse A Practical Fashionable Fun retailer Piece of History
This is a vintage 1960s elegant Bonwit Teller Magid silk or.
This is a vintage 1960s elegant Bonwit Teller Magid silk or refined satin evening clutch bag. Gold tone metal snap with rhinestones and a little flat stylish bow on the front. Snap is a pull proof snap made by RAUF Co., Providence, Rhode Island. This clutch purse is the perfect accessory for a formal evening. Tag inside says 'Bonwit Teller' and a gold stamp 'Magid' on the inside pocket. Includes the original accompanying change purse. Clean but the silk on the outside of the purse has a somewhat purple sheen. Silk inside the purse is very blue. Otherwise practically like new. Sold loose.
KEY FEATURES
Approximate dimensions: 11 1/2 inches long, 3/4 inches wide, and 4 3/4 inches tall.
PROVENANCE AND INFORMATION
This is a fantastic example of the neat things that my stepmother finds while cleaning up houses to get them ready for sale. Items that have sat, forgotten long ago, in an attic or basement. Treasures that have been hidden or buried as other things accumulate around them. Trinkets and baubles sitting in quiet boxes under layers of dust. These items would have easily been thrown away but instead have been rescued to help them find a new forever home.
Sleek and slim, this purse is roomy enough to hold your essentials for an evening out and about, like your cell phone and credit cards. Elegant. Glamorous. Sexy. Whether you're rockin' the Casbah, celebrating on New Year's Eve, or just dressed to the nines to paint the town red, you'll want this purse to stow your stuff and complement your look.
The snap opener is marked Rauf Co., Prov. RI. This company was a fastener company on Dexter street in Rhode Island until the early 1960s. Seems like such a small thing, a snap, but back then, it wasn't unusual for companies to specialize in things like this.
Bonwit Teller & Co. was a luxury department store in New York City founded by Paul Bonwit in 1895 at Sixth Avenue and 18th Street, and later a chain of department stores. In 1897 Edmund D. Teller was admitted to the partnership and the store moved to 23rd Street, east of Sixth Avenue. Bonwit specialized in high-end women's apparel at a time when many of its competitors were diversifying their product lines, and Bonwit Teller became noted within the trade for the quality of its merchandise as well as the above-average salaries paid to both buyers and executives. The partnership was incorporated in 1907 and the store made another move, this time to the corner of Fifth Avenue and 38th Street.
Throughout much of the twentieth century, Bonwit Teller was one of a group of upscale department stores on Fifth Avenue that catered to the "carriage trade". Among its most notable peers were Peck & Peck, Saks Fifth Avenue, and B. Altman and Company.
Bonwit changed ownership frequently, particularly after 1979. Bonwit Teller's parent company filed for bankruptcy in 1989, resulting in the closure of the bulk of the company's stores. Despite efforts over the years to restore it, the Bonwit Teller brand is now defunct as of 1990. What a shame because the company has a lot of history behind it.
The Bonwit Teller's flagship uptown building at Fifth Avenue and 56th Street, originally known as Stewart & Company, was a women's clothing store in the "new luxury retailing district", designed by Whitney Warren and Charles Wetmore,, and opened on October 16, 1929 with Eleanor Roosevelt in attendance.
Notable appearances in movies:
- In the 1957 film 'Desk Set,' Bunny Watson, played by Katharine Hepburn, greets her co-workers saying "Morning, kids. Wait till you see what I snagged at Bonwit's."
- In the 1958 film 'Home Before Dark,' Charlotte Bronn, played by Jean Simmons, shops at Bonwit's store in Boston during a Christmas shopping spree. She sees a sparkling gold dress in the store's exterior window display, goes inside, tries it on, and purchases it, despite protests from Bonwit Teller saleswomen who tell her the size is much too large.
- In the opening scene of the 1961 film 'Breakfast at Tiffany's,' when Audrey Hepburn is driving up Fifth Avenue, the Bonwit Teller store next to Tiffany's is clearly visible with a flag in front of it.
- In the 1978 film Oliver's Story, starring Ryan O'Neal and Candice Bergen, Candice plays the role of Marcie Bonwit. Later in the movie, it transpires that Marcie Bonwit is an heiress to the Bonwit Teller fortune.
- In the 1979 film Rocky II, Rocky Balboa shops at Bonwit's store in Philadelphia as part of a spending spree sequence. Rocky purchases an expensive leather jacket (with a tiger design on the back), a fur coat for his wife Adrian and expensive wristwatches, including one for his brother-in-law Paulie.
- In the opening sequence of the 1995 film Die Hard with a Vengeance, Bonwit's Fifth Avenue store is bombed by villain Simon Gruber, but Bonwit had been out of business for five years by that time (!!).
- In 2009, Bonwit Teller was written into a scene in Mad Men, a television series that explores the world of advertising. Peter Campbell, advertising account executive, returns a Bonwit Teller dress to its Fifth Avenue store, where he discovers that Joan Holloway, a former co-worker, is now employed there as a sales clerk.
- In the 2013 Hallmark Channel movie Window Wonderland, a window dresser (Chyler Leigh) explains how Salvador Dalí dressed windows at Bonwit's in his surrealist style.
An amazing find! Brag about what you snagged from Bonwit's. Give as a gift or splurge and keep for yourself.
OTHER THINGS YOU MIGHT LIKE
Handmade Evening Handbag: https://www.etsy.com/sg-en/listing/721286179/vintage-1940s-crochet-handbag-evening
Sterling Mesh Purse: https://www.etsy.com/sg-en/listing/740363719/antique-1900-to-1920s-silver-sterling
Lester Bags Clutch with Accessories: https://www.etsy.com/listing/854991547/vintage-1960s-don-lester-bags-669
PURCHASE WITH CONFIDENCE
Thousands of sales. Hundreds of five star ratings. Well-loved items that last for more than one lifetime. Some items from the shop have been purchased for use as props in television commercials, major network & streaming shows, major motion pictures, interior design photo shoots, and restaurant décor. Items have also been purchased by interior designers, architects, lawyers, doctors, and celebrities. Still more items have been gifts to major studio actors and production crew members. And my favorite, several items from the shop have been purchased to replace lost, stolen, or broken treasures. When you buy from Cool Again Vintage, you're buying something special from someone you can trust.
WHY BUY VINTAGE?
Unique pieces with a history and that continue to endure the test of time. Perfectly practical in both function and design. It's sustainable shopping that reduces your carbon footprint and keeps valuables out of the landfills. Vintage retailer is your chance to own something you wished you had as a kid, find a nostalgic treasure that gives you all the feels, hand down a keepsake to a new generation, or discover something cool you missed the first time around. Cool before. Cool again. Your purchase also helps to support small business.
SHIPPING
Ships via USPS Priority with insurance and tracking.