Yesterday I purchased a vintage teal blue hinge wallet from Vintage Connection (a fabulous vintage store on the corner of 9th and Bainbridge). Seconds before seeing the wallet, I held a soft, yellow, leather clutch in my hand but had suddenly been drawn to the teal leather that strongly contrasted the dark deep wood table it rested on. I quickly placed the clutch back and purchased the wallet.
Later that evening I transferred all the contents from my old wallet into the new one. I sorted through business cards, old receipts, folded fortunes from my favorite Chinese restaurant, etc.
You really do carry a lot of personality in your wallet.
As I placed my license under the clear plastic (the final step of wallet transfer), I wondered who the last owner of the wallet was? And what pictures, business cards, scraps of paper it held? That’s the beauty of vintage pieces-each one has a history-a previous owner-and true character. Since I am new to the vintage world, I am very excited to continue to collect bits of history and character with each purchase.
Old wallets tell an interesting story, not just about previous owners, but also about a time in which more photographs and less identification cards traveled with us- pieces in the wallet to be shared or admired, not swiped or scanned.