PLEASE READ ENTIRE LISTING & VIEW ALL PHOTOS

Ask questions, Sold As-Is, No returns.

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We'd love to see someone adopt and enjoy! 

We are a smoke-free home with a hypoallergenic dog (Standard Poodle) – We usually mail w/in a day or two of payment, but have 5-10 day handling for health reasons, but if you need sooner LET US KNOW right away, we will do our best to accommodate if we can

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---We combine shipping where safe to do so. Internationals, we use Ebay Global Shipping only. Many of our items are from an old Yankee New England Maine Family estate We are just plain folks looking to move things forward, not dealers, not experts, we do our best to describe but might miss something. Ask questions. 

---USE PHOTOS: Pictures are part of the description. Be aware that camera flash and your color monitor can cause color difference –-Remember pics are often closeups and thus exaggerated, so use photos with ruler or coin AND/OR the description for better estimate of actual size  

---Used Items: Expect typical evidence of use wear handling and/or storage.

—We’re old, moving things forward, so no returns

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FROM THE WEB:

"Whiting & Davis remains the recognized leader in metal mesh handbags more than 120 years after its first mesh handbag was produced and continues to attract discerning fans, including actresses, musicians (and you!), by regularly introducing new styles with an eye toward both trend and functionality.  

—- In 1876, Wade Davis & Company, the precursor to Whiting & Davis, is founded by William H. Wade, Edward P. Davis and Louis Heckman in Massachusetts.  Charles Whiting joins the company in 1880 at age 16 and swiftly moves up the ranks to management. By 1896, he and Mr. Davis form a partnership and raise the money to purchase the company, renaming it The Whiting & Davis Company.

— In 1892 Mr. Whiting designed the first mesh bag, with all rings formed and joined by hand, and history is born. By 1912 they invent a machine to automate the mesh making process.

— During the Roaring Twenties, Whiting & Davis’s beautiful, high quality purses are the coveted accessory of flappers, actresses and “well dressed women everywhere.” Through automation and advertising, the company expands its reach, becoming, and remaining to this day, the world’s leading mesh handbag manufacturer.

—The 1930s bring high-profile collaborations with iconic designers like Elsa Schiaparelli and trailblazing French designer Paul Poiret, while Whiting & Davis’ famed creations continue to turn up in the hands of stage and screen actresses of the era.  Poiret, the first to design without rigid tailoring and corseting, began launching cosmetics, perfumes and housewares lines. He collaborates with Whiting & Davis to create colorful bags with “Parisian allure.”

—- During World War II, a shortage of raw materials leads Whiting & Davis to temporarily stop production of its metal mesh bags and turn its attention to supporting the war effort by manufacturing radar equipment. At the close of the war, the company returns to making its signature mesh handbags as well as other mesh goods like choker bib necklaces.  “Hand in Hand with Fashion,” the Whiting & Davis slogan of the time, represents the styles from the late 40s thru the 1950s, with more modern, atomic age influences.

—- By the Sixties and Seventies, Whiting & Davis embraces the Mod Era with simpler styles and clean lines, adding shoulder straps to certain styles.  The excesses of the late ‘70s slide right into the fashions of the ‘80s, with mesh accessories and apparel continuing to drape some of the most beautiful bodies of the time.

— Whiting’s “soft, sensuous and slithery handbags,” halter tops and dresses are the perfect glittering accessories for a decade spent writhing under disco balls to Donna Summer and ABBA.  Christie Brinkley’s cover of Cosmopolitan, September 1983, makes sensation as she stands in a Whiting & Davis metal mesh dress.  

— In the Nineties, fashion critics saw that Whiting and Davis bags were apparently not for the girl next door! Model Frederique Van Der Wal uses that slogan in her adverts wearing a black dress with sleek mesh belt, bracelet, and clutch. Absolut Vodka jumps aboard with an upscale campaign, using their bottle within every ad. Anthony Ferrara designs a hoodie tee-shirt style dress using Whiting & Davis silver mesh for the iconic bottle shape. The cost? A very cool half million dollars.

— In the new Millennium, the love of Whiting & Davis handbags (new and vintage) continues with top actresses, musicians, stylists, bloggers, and collectors. The appeal of new styles like the dimple mesh minaudière bags are matched only by the search for vintage W&D purses.  Devotees peruse vintage shops, thrift stores, and antique flea markets, while cruising online websites like Ruby Lane and eBay.  In the early 2000s, “Whiting & Davis Purses – The Perfect Mesh,” a book entirely about Whiting Davis handbags, is published.

—- While that first bag was just simple, unpainted ring mesh, today in the first quarter of the century, Whiting bags now come in a variety of shapes, colors and mesh styles with trims such as snakeskin, studs, and SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS.  In 2010, Lady Gaga added more fan followers and piqued new interest as she incorporated a silver Whiting & Davis gate-top bag into one of her fabulous all-white outfits while performing in Paris.

— Spanning the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries, Whiting & Davis remains the recognized leader in metal mesh handbags and accessories.  Anyone who sees a mesh bag recognizes it as Whiting and Davis!! Lucky is the owner of vintage pieces, and luckily, today’s modern styles will only increase in value with proper care and love!"