Mesh handbags made of fine wire metal mesh have been around
for a long time, but they hit their peak at the turn of the last century in the Art Deco era of the 1920's: The
overall era & popularity of metal mesh bags was from about 1910 through the mid 1930's.
This section deals
with the Dresden or Baby Fine metal wirework mesh purses. Tiny rings of wire joined together in chain fashion make
up these lovely purses.
Originally, these bags
were made entirely by hand and was an expensive, laborious process.
The
invention (patented & developed by A.C. Pratt of Newark, NJ) of mesh making machines around 1909, was developed in
Germany by Dresden & Weiss using Pratt's designs which caused some legal problems. Whiting & Davis owned the patents
to this machinery & eventually acquired all the Dresden machinery.The
invention of these machines was a boon to manufacturers as the bags could be mass produced, and they were.
Wire or chain
mesh purses became a large part of the 'Roaring Twenties'. The major producers in the United States were Whiting
& Davis and Mandalian Mfg. Co. These bags were
also made in many other countries such as France, England, Germany to name a few.
Dresden bags have
a surreal watercolor appearance from a stenciling method of applying enamel paint.
Production of Dresden mesh
purses ceased in the 1940's with the onset of WWII. Normal production of armor metal mesh resumed after the war.
See enamel Armor metal mesh purse catagory for more Mandalian & Whiting & Davis metal mesh bags. Link near the bottom of this page
or use the site map at the bottom of the page.
