Q: I have a lady’s beaded tapestry evening bag decorated with flowers and leaves. It has a gold clasp and a 14-inch gold chain. It’s lined with gold-colored satin and has one pocket inside. The purse is 5 inches high and 6 1/2 inches wide. There is a tag inside that says “Made in W. Germany for Walborg.” I’d like to know its history and value.
A: Walborg Co. was founded by Hilde Weinberg in New York City in the late 1940s. She designed purses that were handmade in Belgium, France, Italy, and West Germany. Walborg beaded purses were popular in the 1950s. By the late 1950s, some Walborg purses were being made in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. The company was in business until at least 1963. The West Germany tag proves your purse was made sometime between May 1949 and 1963 or perhaps a little later. Value of your beaded bag: $50-$75.
There are a few other possible ways to date Walborg handbags. Among these would include original retail purchase receipts, the Walborg catalogs that were provided to retailers for ordering, original purchase orders from the retailer or Walborg records or other records held by the company for designs (the bags were designed by Mrs. Weinberg and probably a design staff)…which then would have been submitted overseas to be manufactured. Another possible way to date the bags is by the materials that were used. If it can be determined that at least one of the materials used would have only been available after a certain date, then the handbag could only be at least that old.
According to a newspaper article (interview w/Mrs. Weinberg) from [u]The Day[/u], New London, Connecticut dated Sept. 1, 1971 pertaining to a then new imports custom surcharge…Hilde Weinberg had resigned from her position as VP for a cosmetics manufacturing co., in 1949 to study the handbag business for “a year and a half” before establishing the Walborg Corporation. The newspaper article also refers to the Walborg Corp., being in business for “20 years”. Therefore the Walborg handbags date to no earlier than 1951…and at least up until 1971. I did find a “new” New York state trademark for the Walborg Corp in 1978 (different owner), who may have bought the company and the trademark from the Weinbergs. They may have created a subsidiary for handbags, “Terok handbags”, using the same Walborg trademark label. The style of this particular bag probably dates from the 1970’s when there was a “revival” in this Victorian to 1930’s style.