Purse
Object number2010.14.3
Mediumleather; metal
Credit LineGift of Marilyn Di Matteis
DescriptionRectangular brown leather purse. Impressed on front flap are images of flowers inside a circle; edges lined with black leather. Front flap has one snap button; flap opens upward. Three sections inside with two pockets; center has zipper; lined with green soft leather. Leather loop on back.Dimensions6 x 1 x 8.75 in. (15.2 x 2.5 x 22.2 cm)Historical NotesPart of a collection from donor Marilyn Di Matteis' family, in particular her parents Phillipo and Elvira Di Matteis, who were married in West Virginia in 1934. This leather purse was an engagement gift from Phillipo to Elvira. The collection represents three generations of donor Marilyn Di Matteis' family of Italian Americans in the Western Pennsylvania area. Her father was born in the United States, went back to Italy, and then returned as a young teenager in the mid-1920s. His family stayed behind in Italy. He had a very difficult relationship with his father and revered his mother. The donor's mother (Elvira Martinelli) was born in Italy and came to the United States as a young girl, though she was never naturalized until the late 1940s. Her family settled in Dennison, Ohio, to work on the railroads but moved south to Weirton, West Virginia. The railroad work as not particularly constant, so other forms of work were often substituted, such as picking up vegetables in the Strip District when the train stopped in Pittsburgh and selling them in West Virginia to neighbors. The family also had a farm at various points in their lives. The young couple married in 1934 and bought a farm in the 1940s.
Previous owner
Elvira Di Matteis
(died 2009)
Related person
Phillipo Di Matteis
On View
Not on view
c. 1948
1902
Plumb Company