Pocketbook

Pocketbooks were used by both men and women. While men’s purses carried coins, paper money, invoices, and receipts, women typically used theirs for jewelry, sewing implements, and other personal items. Most pocket books were stitched in floral or abstract patterns in crewel - a two-ply worsted yarn - on linen. As status symbols denoting wealth and social standing, they were often stitched by a wife or daughter and presented as gifts to parents or husbands.