Glimmering Mystery of Aunt Holly's handbag - Solved!

 

Aunt Holly, Uncle Jack and my mom c1945

My Aunt Holly was my mom's Aunt Holly. So I guess she's technically my Great Aunt Holly. Whenever I think of Aunt Holly, my mind immediately conjures up soft cashmere and pearls. Mauve velvet curtains with opera music swirling around the room. A chaise lounge, a grey Persian cat. And the most beautiful handbag my 5-year-old eyes had ever seen.

This handbag was the stuff of legends. I remember how it glistened with jewels -- encrusted emeralds and rubies and sapphires. Real pirate booty. All these precious stones arranged to form a fantastical image. Maybe the designed featured a decadent owl or a peacock, I can't quite remember, but definitely a garden of plenty. The whole thing twinkled. It was really bewitching.

Occasionally I've thought about that handbag. As you get older ... you know, you realize things. Like I've realized that Aunt Holly's pearls were real. Her shoes were Prada. I figured sooner or later I'd stumble across whomever it was that designed that handbag. And so it came to pass:

Aunt Holly's handbag was something like this.

Enid Collins produced bags like this throughout the 1960s.

I wonder what happened to Aunt Holly's handbag. 

No I don't.
IRL, it would never live up to the glorious otherworldly treasure in my memory.