nobody carries a handbag

[michael c]

as i watch lately i noticed that none of the women on the show regularly carry a handbag.why???except for julia's mammoth pocketbook the girls just jut about sans-bag.they get into cars,race from place-to-place,they can get from the old house to collinwood in four seconds flat.but all without a bag.keys?money?lipstick?these girls just risk it!
i wonder if a "decision" was made?did the producers decide that the bag was a "prop" that could easily be dispenced with.that this item might require a moment of "reality".a woman wouldn't leave without her bag would she???

i wonder why the handbag was done away with???

[TERRY308]

The only person I've seen carrying a purse is Beth.  And I've seen her maybe two times.

I know that I have at least 30 of them.  Some people have shoes, I have purses.  So, I know that, if I were a "Collins" woman, I would have had ALOT of purses. 

[Maria_Merriweather]

I've seen Vicky carrying a quilted Chanel-type bag on occasion. She lost a wallet which was found right before she disappeared in one the early shows IIRC.

[Julia99]

That's often a noted item even when women carry purses, like in the 80s when on Dynstay and Dallas the actresses carried these clutch bags that obviously had NOTHING in them.  . . now Julia is obviously fond of handbags (she had several over the course of the series + her medical bag) and gloves. . .i'm guessing this may have been a choice of the actress, wanting character-props since they took her cigarettes away after the dream curse/Chris jennings timeframe.  . .

[Raineypark]

Hand bags would have interfered with the pacing of the show.  Every time they entered or exited a dwelling, they would have had to pick up or put down the bag before moving about...and if they have moved about the set during the scene, they'd have to move back to the place where they put the bag down to pick it up again.

Even in an odd place like Collinwood, they wouldn't stand around in the house, purse in hand, throughout a scene.

And I, for one, never take a purse with me when I'm wandering in the woods. 

[michael c]

well put raineypark, that's what i was thinking too.but it's just funny when everyone just comes and goes without anything.they usually remember to grab thier coat of that hook as they race out the door to goodness knows what bizzare errand.i think julia was required to have a bag because she was always dispensing sedatives or whatnot and needed someplace to keep them(plus she always looked so "smart").

i remember vicki's chain-handled "chanel" from early eps. too.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And I, for one, never take a purse with me when I'm wandering in the woods. 

I believe it was it etiquette maven Miss Manners who first decreed that.  I also believe she warned that women should never wear taffeta to a vampire staking.

[Heather]

i think julia was required to have a bag because she was always dispensing sedatives or whatnot and needed someplace to keep them(plus she always looked so "smart").

Yup, she did. BUT The real question is...what all does Julia really keep in that medical bag, huh?       {cough, cough}

. now Julia is obviously fond of handbags (she had several over the course of the series + her medical bag) and gloves

Yeppers - exactly. And Julia is nothing without her trusty gloves, twisting and turning with each stressful event...she had to release that tension somehow, poor thing...   

[Minja]

The reason nobody carried a handbag on DS is that Sheenasma wasn't old enough to be put in charge of the props.

Something about child labor laws......

Always, Minja 
Not to mention, if she were in charge, they'd be wearing more stylish footware.

[ClaudeNorth]

Well, Estelle Getty always carried a handbag on THE GOLDEN GIRLS, and that didn't slow her down... 

(A DS/GG crossover...now there's a thought!)

[Connie]

And I, for one, never take a purse with me when I'm wandering in the woods. 

Me neither.


Hmm...yes.  A handbag was usually only used on the show when it was needed to carry something specific: ie.....

[spoiler]...when Beth had to take money into town to pay off the woman who was caring for the twins.[/spoiler]
[spoiler]...when Daphne was carrying that gun around in 1840.[/spoiler]

Julia (a REAL woman) seems to be the only one IIRC who knew how to accessorize.  Think about it.....how many scenes can you recall in which Quentin comments to a woman about how she looks???  THIS is the only scene I can think of:
http://home.earthlink.net/~lightdance/images/quentin-julia.jpg   

The rest, as they say, is history.  It's a shame the subsequent love scenes were canned and never saw the light of day.  Apparently they were written while Sam was on vacation and when he returned, he axed them in favor of all that "Lilacs" nonsense.

A couple of stills DO survive from a rare kinescope.



 

[Gerard]

I think I remember seeing Maggie with a purse on some episode or other.  Or am I suffering another bout of FDSMS (Faulty Dark Shadows Memory Syndrome)?

Gerard

[Gothick]

Yes, Maggie carried a purse during the infamous Josette's Earrings scenario.

And dear Cassandra, of course, sometimes had a smart bag in which she concealed some of her nasties.

When it comes to handbags, as in so many areas, JULIA RULES!

but I'm not prejudiced or anything.

G.

[Raineypark]

I also believe she warned that women should never wear taffeta to a vampire staking.

Of course not!  All that rustling confuses the bats.

Velvet's the thing.  Preferably in black or crimson. 

[TERRY308]

And Carolyn had a purse when she attended the wedding of her mother and Jason McGuire.  And there was something in that purse.