Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Vinyl Train Tote. 1960s. Maker: Debbie – A Division of John Wind Imports. Adorable, glitter-painted train with three-dimensional metal wheels, faux gems and gold trim on a burlap-type fabric. This purse, its handles and closure are made of textured vinyl. It's similar to the kit purses of the 1960s—of which I have many—but, I was surprised to find the manufacturer’s label inside, which also says it was "Made in Japan." I Googled John Wind Imports and found that there were several different styles of bag made by the company, some under the “Debbie” name. I wonder if Debbie was a real person, or if they chose that name because it was such a typical ‘60s American girl moniker.

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4 comments:

Taryn Zerner said...

This is great! I am a huge Enid Collins fan, and go crazy over purses that have a dash of her style.
This is darling!
I am so glad I found your blog. I have a bit of a purse fetish (to say the least) and I will certainly be coming back!!!
Love,
Taryn

VintagePurseGal said...

Hi Taryn! Great to hear from you. I haven't been posting regularly because of my "real" job, but I promise to get back to it soon!

Unknown said...

Do you know anything else about John Wind Imports? My name is also John Wind, I am a jewelry designer (www.maximalart.com), and I've always wondered about this company!

VintagePurseGal said...

Hey John! I wish I could tell you more. I see this (your!) name occasionally during my vintage shopping adventures, but I don't know if John Wind was an actual person or a company name created by the importer.

Because of my preferred style (whimsical), many of my purses share the same manufacturer names, but, alas, it seems that the history for most of them has been lost.

If I find out more about that John Wind, I'll post it here or contact you through your Web site.