These are fun items – do you know what they are?
In the 1900’s plastic carrier bags didn’t exist – which is probably a good thing! In the upmarket stores your goods would be packed and wrapped in brown paper or paper marked with the stores name. The shop assistant would then tie the parcel closed with string or ribbon and one of these handles advertising the store would be hooked around the string at the top so that you could carry it safely. A little more classy that that 10p carrier bag but you do have to wait a bit longer. Some stores in France will still wrap your purchases but many more have a table near the exit where you can tear of paper and wrap your items yourself. I have even seen it in some of the huge DIY stores – I can just imagine someone wrapping a hammer or a packet of rawlplugs. They also provide a saw in case your items are too long to fit in the car and want to cut them down!
These particular handles are from Henri Esders Vetements in Limoges, not too far from us. This was a very prestigious clothes shop, with clothing made to measure – only for the rich. They had stores in Paris, Lyon and other cities. The factory where the clothes were made was located in Paris. The original Paris store was in Rue Rivoli and later became a C&A.