“There were no duplicates,” Mrs. LaMothe said. “I would play with them. I was like a kid. I would change the colors of the ones we had up to suit the seasons.”

The couple had hoped to donate the handbags to a museum, she said, but could not find one that would promise not to sell them. Owning them is not always easy; the metalwork can chip or corrode. “You can’t wrap them in plastic — it retains moisture,” Mrs. LaMothe said. “Don’t display them in a bathroom, that’s a real no-no, or leave them in a drawer exposed to powder or perfume.”

The auction’s costliest handbag, as of press time on Thursday, depicted Clark Gable (seen above) and was going for $750."

Friday, December 11, 2009 9:06:47 AM (Central Standard Time, UTC-06:00)    Comments [1]