A while ago, I wrote a blog post about ‘what’s in my bag’. I thought it would be fun to think about my Mom’s purse in the 70s. Some things I definitely remember seeing while I was digging through, looking for something, and others are speculation.

It’s funny because I don’t specifically recall the type or brand of purse Mom carried. She had plenty of stuff in it, but nothing too heavy or out of the ordinary. 

-She had a wallet with an attached coin purse. If I decided to buy my lunch at school that morning, she would tell me to go into her purse and get some money. There were a couple of photos in those picture holders you got with your wallet of some school pictures, my uncle’s kids, and probably her driver’s license. 

-In the mid-70s, she had a pack of Tareyton Light cigarettes and some matches. My Mom was a smoker and always took her pack with her.

-She had a coupon holder with a little tie that kept it closed in her purse. She went to the grocery store often, running in for a couple of things and coming out with many brown bags. 

-Certs were in her purse. She bought the mint-flavored, but I enjoyed the fruit-flavored. And gum. Most likely Trident, and I’m sure several pieces floated at the bottom with lots of “purse dust” on them..lol

-I’m thinking she had a couple of pens so she can sign last-minute school permission slips, notes, and checks.

-Definitely a soft pack of tissues. Honestly, there were probably used ones at the bottom of her purse too..lol

-Car keys. Big, bulky car keys. Because there was no such thing as keyless entry. 

-A checkbook. Because that’s how they paid for most things over $20, women couldn’t get credit cards until 1974!

-I bet there was an emery board in there with some advertisement on the back.

-Band-aids. Because she had 5 kids, and you never know..

-A lipstick of some sort. Could anyone argue that’s probably the most common item in a woman’s handbag?

It’s our nature to carry things we need with us. Although I’m a minimalist when it comes to purse essentials. I would love to rifle through Mom’s purse when we were growing up. There were probably some hilarious things I didn’t think of. What do you remember lurking in the bottom of your Mom’s purse growing up?