A Denver woman has revealed the unexpected discovery she made when opening a set of vintage purses purchased from a local thrift store.
In a post shared to Reddit under the handle u/Reality_Rose, a bargain hunter, who has asked not to be named, shared what she found inside the eye-catching accessories.
“I saw these purses as a bundle in the glass cupboard and thought they were cute,” she told Newsweek. “They were priced around $20, so $4 a purse, which is ridiculously cheap, so I asked to buy them without even looking them over. The silver one was what really caught my eye.”
While she liked the purses, the Reddit user said she didn’t look too closely at them. “The store was busy, and it was probably over a weekend, so I didn’t want to waste the workers’ time going through them since I knew I wanted them, even if they were damaged or worn,” she added.
“Once I got home and started taking tags off my purchases, I found the notes.”
With over 25,000 resale, consignment, and not-for-profit resale shops located across the U.S., according to Capital One Shopping, there are plenty of bargains, and major surprises, to be found.
Social media is littered with stories about secondhand goods bringing unexpected surprises.
There was the painting with a hidden message on the back, a stylish 1950s coat that came with an added bonus in the pocket and the camcorder that came with a tape containing the most extraordinary family moment.
Yet the contents of those vintage purchases Reality_Rose found was something altogether different. “I was going through everything later at home and found a note in the silver bag,” she said. “I was delighted but didn’t expect more. Then I opened another of the bags and saw another note. I looked for them and was delighted at the four I found.”
Each note offered up a short story about the origins of the purse. “Given to me by the professors in Physics Dept. at TU for Christmas,” the note accompanying the silver mesh bag reads. “I was the student secretary in their offices. 1951.”
The note found inside the round white crocheted purse, meanwhile, says: “Handmade by my mother. I was during WWII [World War II] and she had to use a plastic chain and old, used zipper. 1940s.”
There is another multicolored crocheted purse made by the previous owner’s mother in the 1930s, while the fourth item, an old eelskin and beaded purse, was owned by the aforementioned mother’s half-sister Cordie and is described as “very, very old.”
“I was so delighted to know a little bit more about the history,” Reality_Rose said. “My guess has always been that the notes were intended for a specific person or one of her relatives. They just read like something you would write to someone with the context of the family.”
While the purses might not necessarily be worth much, Reality_Rose is very happy with her purchase and the unique personal history she found inside, taking to Reddit to show them off. “I love thrifting especially when I find something uniquely weird. I’ve found notes in books, boxes, pockets, purses, etc. but these are my favorite because they came as a set,” she wrote.
Reality_Rose said: “I don’t know that they’re particularly valuable in that sense, but I definitely value them and think that they’re a treasure.”