PURSE

Description: OUTSIDE OF PURSE IS BROWN LEATHER. THERE IS A SMALL POCKET ON LOWER FRONT, THAT HAS GOLD TRIM. ABOVE THIS, ON OUTSIDE OF PURSE, ARE THREE LINES OF STITCHING THAT FORM A SORT OF U-SHAPE. TOP OF PURSE HAS A CHROME TRIM, WITH THREE KNOBS THAT CLIP TOGETHER, THEREBY CLOSING THE PURSE. INSIDE THE PURSE IS A GREENISH-GOLD CELLULOID. THE TWO POCKETS ARE SEPARATED BY A PIECE OF CLEAR PLASTIC. ONE OF THE POCKETS IS ONLY HALF THE LENGTH OF THE PURSE, WHILE THE OTHER IS FULL LENGTH.

History: DONOR USED AS A CIGARETTE HOLDER AND ASHTRAY. DONOR'S DAUGHTER BROUGHT ITEMS TO MUSEUM WHILE CLEANING OUT MOTHER'S (DOROTHY) HOME AS SHE WAS MOVING. DOROTHY WAS BORN IN LETHBRIDGE, AND BEGAN SMOKING IN HER 20S (SHE WAS 86 AT TIME OF DONATION). SHE QUIT WHEN ORDERED BY HER DOCTOR IN 70S. DOROTHY'S PARENTS BOTH SMOKED AND NEVER STOPPED THEIR CHILDREN FROM DOING SO. DONOR MOVED IN 30S, ACROSS CANADA & U.S. BUT RETURNED TO LETHBRIDGE IN 1975, STILL A SMOKER. DONOR'S FATHER, RALPH MAYNARD, CAME FROM ENGLAND CIRCA 1902. SEE PAST DONATIONS. *UPDATE* IN 2018, COLLECTIONS INTERN KIRSTAN SCHAMUHN CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF PERSONAL ARTIFACTS. SCHAMUHN SPOKE WITH DOROTHY RICHARDS’S DAUGHTER, JUDITH MCILWRAITH, REGARDING HER MOTHER’S PRIOR DONATIONS. NO FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THIS OBJECT WAS DETERMINED UPON CONTACTING NEXT-OF-KIN. PLEASE SEE PERMANENT FILE P20000062001 FOR MORE INFORMATION INCLUDING ARTICLES REGARDING THE FAMILY HISTORY.