reticule – Metropolitan Museum of Art – Free Use
A reticule, also known as a ridicule or indispensable, was a type of small handbag or purse, similar to a modern evening bag that became popular in the late 18th century and early 19th Century.
In our modern world women and girls have a variety of purses to carry their essentials. Some ladies like a bag big enough to hold everything from billfolds, change purses, pens, mints, gum, combs, compacts, pain relievers, lip balm, hand lotion, tissues, scissors, hairpins. checkbooks, money, and maybe even a Bible. Well, you name it and some lady somewhere will be able to pull said item out of her purse. And of course, these days, we all want to stick our phones in that purse if we don’t have a handy pocket.
Years ago, that’s what women had. A handy pocket to carry their essentials. It all went into their pockets. But then ladies’ fashions changed. The fabric of their dresses changed. Pockets no longer fit the styles or were big enough or sturdy enough to hold whatever was needed. And so reticules became a necessity for the well dressed lady. They weren’t very large and usually had drawstrings that allowed the ladies to carry the small purses from their wrists. But they large enough to hold a few items a lady might need.
Below is a list or what a lady might have in her reticule in the 1840s that I found online when I decided a reticule carrying lady was going to be necessary to a couple of scenes in The Pursuit of Elena Bradford.
Essential items:
• Money: Coins were the primary form of currency, and women needed a safe place to carry them. Some might use a coin purse within the reticule for easy access.
• Handkerchief: This served multiple purposes, including wiping one’s face, blowing one’s nose, or perhaps catching tears.
• Calling cards: These small printed cards with a lady’s name and address were exchanged during social visits, similar to a business card today.
• Sewing kit: It was common for women to carry needles, thread, and thimbles for minor repairs to clothing.
Personal items:
• Comb: Maintaining a neat hairstyle was important, and a comb was necessary for grooming throughout the day.
• Mirror: Checking one’s appearance throughout the day was considered proper etiquette. Small, handheld mirrors were a common accessory.
• Scent bottle: Perfumes were used to mask unpleasant smells, as frequent bathing wasn’t as common back then.
• Smelling salts: These were used to revive someone who fainted or felt unwell.
Additional items:
• Handwritten notes or letters: These might be personal messages, shopping lists, or invitations.
• Tokens or keepsakes: Small sentimental items like a locket or a pressed flower could be carried for personal significance.
• Religious items: Some women might carry a small prayer book or a rosary for personal devotion.
There was no way they were going to get half of this in the small little reticules the ladies carried in those days. They would have had to pick and choose what was needed for whatever activity they were engaging in. What she carried in the reticule did offer a hint of her social standing and daily life.
In my story, the ladies in question carried coins in their reticules. That was certain. Then they had a handkerchief. A lady couldn’t go out without a hankie. I think they might have had those calling cards and the scent bottle would be vital or failing room for the actual bottle, a handkerchief scented so that a lady might cover her nose if an unpleasant odor disturbed her senses. The smelling salts might be vital as well when you think about the fashion that called for ladies to have very small waists made smaller by wearing stays that were at times pulled so tightly that a lady could only take tiny sips of air. Fainting was not uncommon. I can see the ladies at Graham Springs carrying a small mirror as well. Not sure a comb was vital since most of the hairstyles had the hair in braids and buns with few stray hairs to be of concern.
In my story, Ivy, Elena’s younger sister, rescues another lady’s reticule from the side of a lake after the lady threw it at ducks coming toward her. Ivy collected it for her and even washed the duck doo off the reticule in the lake. Coins had spilled out as well, but much to Ivy’s excitement, the lady didn’t want the coins after they had been on the ground among the ducks. If you read the story, I hope you will enjoy Ivy saving the lady from the ducks scene.
One thing sure, they wouldn’t have had room for a phone.
What is a vital thing you must have in your purse? Better yet, what is the most unusual thing you have in your purse right now?
In mine, I have some bookmarks. 🙂
Comments 17
Ah, nothing unusual in my purse. I just looked. I have not seen or heard the word ‘reticule before. Not sure how I got to this age without hearing of it 😕
Author
Neat that you looked, Loretta. Another thing I forgot to mention in my list was keys. The more I think about it, the more things I’m piling into my purse. I did take out a bunch of keys that I’ve carried around for years but I no longer know what they unlock. 🙂
Reticule is an old-fashioned word. Perhaps the books you’ve read never mention reticule since a writer would have to make sure you knew what it was. Hope I was able to do that in my book where the lady throws hers at the ducks she thinks are going to attack her.
In my smallish purse I have a small clear blue plastic envelope that Mom carried her SS card and Medicare card in. It still has those, my purse is not complete with out it.
Author
I love that, Ruth. It seems good to carry memory tokens to make us remember those we love.
My cash and credit cards are essential, as is my AAA card, and my driver’s license!! I also have lots of pens! You can’t have too many of those! The strangest thing in there is probably the green button-type thing I carry that an aunt gave me years ago. It’s not a button, as there are no eyes to sew through, it’s like a circle with the center cut out. I have no idea where she got it, but it’s mine! lol!
Author
I guess good luck pieces were something I could have added to the list of things in reticules or purses, Trudy. Not that you said yours was a good luck piece, but it made me think of that. When I was a teen, I carried an old quarter as a lucky piece. My girlfriend raided my purse when we were on a youth trip and she needed some cash. I wasn’t there when she needed it and she was sure I wouldn’t care. I didn’t except for that lucky quarter that just seemed like any other quarter to her.
I’m not sure about that you can’t have too many pens. Sometimes I do, and then sometimes those pens make an escape and I can’t find even one. So maybe you truly can’t have too many.
I carry a small pair of scissors to cut out fast food coupons from the sheet of them I keep in the purse when out shopping and want a sandwich. I also carry a small magnifying glass to read the date on the coupon. The print is so tiny!
Author
Sensible additions to your purse, Connie. I sometimes save coupons but then never seem to have them handy when I think I might use them. I might have to add a magnifying glass to my list. I got a label the other day that I could not read. It was white print on a light background. I finally decided they didn’t want customers to be able to read it, but I used one of my son’s tricks and took a picture of the print and then enlarged it so I could read it. I had to take two pictures. The first time I didn’t get the focus good enough. Second time, worked like a charm.
That’s a great idea to photograph it and enlarge it.
I had not known the name of these little purses. Very interesting.
Author
I’ve used the word in several of my historical stories, Carol. Always neat to come up with something that makes the story fit back in the time picked for the story.
I have to have my wallet, phone and chapstick, lotion. Sometimes I have safety pins that go to the hitch pins for farm wagons and trailers!
Author
Well, not everybody will have those kinds of pins in their purses, Kris, but it’s good to have things you might need on the farm close at hand. 🙂 Now, regular safety pins might come in more handy for me. I can never seem to find one when I need it, but I can remember digging one out of my purse in the past to save the day when a strap broke on an essential clothes item. The hitch pin would not have done me any good.
My purse contents are boring. Probably the must unique thing I have is my father’s very small pocket knife. But I was thinking about hankies, something most do not use anymore. I am old enough to remember when you put a clean, ironed often crocheted edge hankie in your purse. I still many, gifts from dear grandmother’s.
Author
I have some hankies from back years ago too, Bonnie. Some of them belonged to a favorite aunt. She had a whole dresser drawer of hankies. I remember looking through them and picking out favorites when I was a kid.
Your dad’s pocketknife is a neat thing to carry. My mom carried a little miniature knife in her purse for years. I think one of my sisters has it now.
A long time ago, some 50 years, I suppose,I gave my Dad a small wooden toothpick holder that he carried everywhere it seemed. It came back to me when he died and is now tucked in my purse. Who knows where?
Author
That is something a little different, but it sounds as though it’s a nice memory thought of your dad whenever you see it in your purse, Amy. I have some things like that, although not in my purse. But I remember certain people every time I see some keepsakes.