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Grandma had a handbag and anyone could see that grandma was important for her bag was very large and stood on the floor beside her wherever she sat and whenever she moved she carried the bag with her. It was black and made of stiff leather. It had a wide opening at the top so that when she opened it it was like a box. Grandma kept it locked and we never saw inside but we knew grandma was important.
Mother had a very large handbag too, also made of leather. It was a shade of brown like the underside of a mushroom. It had a zip right along the top which could open the bag very wide. Although it had a flat bottom and stood up by itself, it was soft and squashy and accommodating. It was always beside her chair just as grandma's was. We knew what mother kept in her bag because she sometimes opened it when she sat down in the evening and we were gathered in front of the fire, listening to the crackling radio or singing songs we had learned at school. We sat as close to the fire as we could get, mother, father and four children. Coal was scarce and used frugally. If mother picked up her bag we would all look up expectantly to see what she would produce. She would sometimes smile to herself and pull out her knitting from the bag. We would settle back down to our books or plasticine. Then she
would pick up her bag and claim our attention again. Just occasionally she would find a few sweets and that's what we were waiting for. Sweets were rationed in those wartime days and so were cigarettes. Mother would exchange the sweet coupons with grandma for grandma's cigarette coupons. We children didn't know this but we did know sweets were very rare in our house. Mother's bag held ration books, birth certificates, safety pins, hair pins, a comb , cigarettes, lighter, and her knitting ? all very important!
I have a collection of handbags, at least twenty, all pretty but useless really because they simply don't hold enough. I have been searching for a long time for a large one that stands up by itself on the floor. Ah yes, handbags must be important.