Background
Evelyn Haertig was born on November 16, 1919, in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, to Mansfield and Flagg.
Evelyn with her husband, Milt Haertig
Santa Barbara, CA 93106, United States
Evelyn received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California in Santa Barbara.
University of California, Berkeley, CA, United States
Evelyn received a Master of Arts from the University of California in Berkeley.
Evelyn Haertig during her student years
Evelyn attended Newton High School, near Boston.
(This book is designed to illuminate every aspect of antiq...)
This book is designed to illuminate every aspect of antique purses and bring the new meaning and joy to your collecting that increased knowledge of any subject always brings to those who are learned. Intended as a definitive reference, the textual information is of prime importance; the illustrations reinforce it. The pictures are large and of good quality and have almost exclusively been drawn from private collections. Museum pieces have been used only where they were significant and not obtainable from any other source.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0943294010/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i1
1990
Evelyn Haertig was born on November 16, 1919, in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, to Mansfield and Flagg.
After graduating from Newton High School (near Boston), Evelyn attended Cambridge Junior College. Evelyn also received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California in Santa Barbara, and a Master of Arts from the University of California in Berkeley.
While working as a model for several artists while attending college, Evelyn developed an eye for artistic beauty that would last a lifetime. Wanting to experience all life had to offer, she left her home in Boston at the beginning of her sophomore year to attended Pasadena Junior College in California. When World War II began, she started working for Lockheed Aircraft Corporation as a courier of blueprint documents.
After her marriage with Milt in 1943, they settled in Granada Hills. Being young and industrious, they built their first house together. When the war was over, they sold their home and traveled around the United States in search of the perfect place to relocate. As life went, they returned to California to live in Santa Barbara, only a short distance from where they had begun their journey. Milt opened a corner grocery store called the Pantry Shelf. They both worked as a team and at the same time, Evelyn attended classes at the University of California in Santa Barbara.
Always seeking adventure and travel, they took an extensive tour of Europe in 1953 when few Americans thought of traveling to the war-torn continent. Milt was hired as a draftsman with a Yuba Manufacturing Company in Benicia. In 1956, Evelyn began her 25-year career as a public school teacher. She had a passion for teaching English on the high school level and especially enjoyed supervising the publication of the school yearbook.
Upon retiring, Evelyn and Milt started an antique business. After collecting antiques for many years, their house was filled with many beautiful pieces. Hoping to establish an antique shop, they bought an old Victorian house in Jacksonville, Oregon. Unfortunately, they were unable to obtain the necessary permits to start a business at the house and decided to return to California. They did, however, keep their business name of Helms House Antiques, named after the Herman Helms family who had built the Oregon House in the late 1800s. Instead of reopening an antique shop, they decided to sell their antiques at antique shows. Evelyn felt passionately about her antiques and knowing as much as possible about each piece. She had a few beaded purses in the booth and customers often asked about their history. Always wanting to be knowledgeable about things, Evelyn discovered that there was very little information available. Thus began her quest for knowledge on the subject of antique purses.
Ever meticulous, Evelyn spent seven years researching antique purses and combs. She spent endless hours of research at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the National Archives in Washington D.C., and various other libraries, museums and antique stores. They journeyed to France, Austria, Italy, Poland and England in search of places where beads and purses had been made. Along the way, Evelyn purchased purses, Milt took countless pictures and together they gathered extensive information on the history and production of the antique purse. With this wealth of new information, it was time to write and illustrate her first book.
In 1983, Milt and Evelyn published their first book: Antique Combs and Purses. Not completely satisfied and feeling there was much more to say about antique purses, Evelyn immediately began researching for her next book: More Beautiful Purses which was published in 1990. Again they traveled to Europe to do additional research and find unique purse collections. They both had come to admire purses as works of art.
Being old and fragile, many of the purses Evelyn collected were badly in need of repair. She spent countless hours repairing these old purses, restoring them to their original beauty. She collected frames, and purchased additional beads to be used for her repair projects. Through hard work and determination, she became an expert on the process of purse restoration. Wanting to pass on her experience, she held numerous workshops for fellow purse restorers. In 2000, Evelyn published her third and final book: Restoring & Collecting Antique Beaded Purses. Her desire to pass on all she had learned was channeled to the contents of this last book.
Due to health issues, she was forced to reduced her antique show schedule to one show per year, the Miami Beach Antique Show. Each January she set up a booth full of purses. It was an amazing sight to see all those purses on display, purses she had spent the past year so carefully restoring.
In January of 2002, Evelyn lost her life companion. Milton had a heart attack and passed away at the age of 85, just one month shy of 86. The following year was very difficult for Evelyn, and it took the effort of family and friends to help her through. At the age of 81, she prepared again an antique booth at the Miami Beach Show and continued doing so for three more years. Unfortunately, at 85, her health kept her from participating in the show. For Evelyn this was a disappointment from which she never fully recovered. In March of 2007, she passed away at the age of 87.
(This book is designed to illuminate every aspect of antiq...)
1990Evelyn wrote her books to educate the general public about purses and handbags. She had a thorough understanding of the topic (which is essential to reference books), and, contrary to public opinion, purses and handbags have countless collectors, primarily women.
Evelyn was a member of the American Association of University Women, American Association of Retired Persons, California Teachers Association, and Phi Alpha Theta.
Evelyn described herself as a boring person with a one-track mind.
In 1941, Evelyn married Milton Haertig. They marriage produced two children - Rhett Haertig Owings and Laura Haertig Hennings.