Vintage Hagen's Travel Bag

I dragged my Dad with me to my old favourite church thrift shop the other week. He must give me good luck for finding vintage bags, as I found one in a style similar to my vintage PanAm purse.

Hagen's Travel is an old Vancouver business; they've been around since 1937. The beautiful blue colour caught my eye, and when I saw the $1 price sticker, I couldn't put it back down.

This bag has so many things about it that I like - the orange piping, grommets on the underside of the bag, and of course the Canadian maple leaf and Greater Vancouver city names. I feel like the guy on Antiques Roadshow explaning all those features with my long pointer stick!

By the way my Dad ended up scoring a Sea by Sweden "paper sack" glass vase. I'm not totally familiar with the company nor the name, but I understand they were later bought out by Kosta Boda. I really need to learn more about glassware if I'm going to consider myself a serious thrifter!

Linking up to Vintage Thingie Thursday!

Vintage Coach Purse from eBay

I remember reading some bloggers' posts about beautiful vintage Coach purses they had found at the thrift, so when my everyday purse starting fraying recently, I decided to check out the big auction site.

At first I was just looking for a simple leather purse with a single zipper and single strap to replace my current bag. I don't like spending a lot of money on purses because I don't want to worry too much about scuffs and the like. But when I started searching around for such a purse, I realized that vintage Coach purses were pretty reasonably priced on eBay!

I came upon a few that I liked, and waited patiently for some low-priced auctions. Most sellers had clear photos showing the Coach "cree" on the interior of the bag.

I settled on this little black hobo bag that several sellers referred to as Vintage. I have no idea how old it is unfortunately, but it is in fantastic condition!

I feel that I got a fantastic deal on this bag - you see, I spotted this model on a listing that was high priced, with lots of wonderful photos that showed all the details of the bag. Then when a low starting bid auction came up for the same purse, I kept my eye on it. I believe it attracted few bidders because it didn't have many photos, but the description was good, and so was the seller's feedback.

The interior of the bag is in perfect condition, and there is no fraying anywhere to be seen.

I ended up paying $19.99 for the purse and another $7 for shipping, which I think is a fantastic deal. My sister has a theory that older Coach purses are nicer, as their popularity of late caused their quality to drop. I can vouch for the quality of the leather and zippers on this piece. Even though it was a relatively inexpensive purse, I feel it'll last me quite a while.

What are some of the things you're pining after on eBay?

Linking up to Thrifty Living at the Penny Worthy Project, ATG's Thrift Share Monday and HLA's Flea Market Finds!

Vintage Pan Am Purse Bag!

With the popularity of the new TV show Pan Am, I was reminded by a great purchase I made at a garage sale almost 10 years ago!

My Dad and I have this thing where we drive around on the weekends in the summertime and shout "GARAGE SALE!" in unison when we'd spot a sign. On one such occasion, we came across a lady selling an assortment of goods laid out on tables. We were her only customers, and most of the items were a bit boring until I spotted this sweet vintage Pan Am purse!

I casually asked her the price and was pretty pleased to hear it was $2.  =)  Don't you love garage sales?

I was always fascinated by this old airline, not having known much about it, but having been intruiged by the luxuriousness of airplane travel at the time. My mom used to check the zippers on clothes when we were kids - she told us that if the zippers said YKK, it told her the materials used were of high quality. I love the quality of the grommets and zippers on this bag. Everything is very sturdy and smooth.

This purse is pretty handy for toting around every now and then. I have to say though, I probably liked it a bit better before they started making reproductions of Pan Am bags!

Linking up to Her Library Adventures and ATG's Thrift Share Monday!