Black Tote with Three-Dimensional Floral Embellishments. 1950s-60s. Maker: Stylecraft Miami. Lovely tote-style bag made from a medium-weight black fabric that was crafted around cardboard to keep its unusual shape. There’s a built-in change purse in the center, and it has goldtone fittings and feet. The fabric handle slides through rings to make it adjustable. Best of all, it has a goldtone design of large beads that were glued on to create flowers, plus goldtone and faux gem leaves, and a gold braid trim branch.

In addition to creating purses with 3-D décor, Stylecraft was known for its Lucite (or, as the company called them, “Tenite”) bags. Which reminds me: my husband’s grandfather was in the ceramics’ industry in the early part of the last century and he invented a material called Dagerite. I can’t find anything about it online, but I believe it was used to make heat-resistant dishes. If you collect old pottery and know anything about Dagerite, e-mail me!