Vintage Caro Nan Basket Purse Painted Main Street Ella Thomas Ozark Center

A fantastic example of the fun basket style purses known as Caro Nan. Each purse has painted main street scenes with decoupage symbols on the woven basket form. In this case, the purse is highlighting Ella Thomas and her shop in Ozark Center, Mountain Home Arkansas. Other shops highlighted include Lunber Bass, White River, Fishmonger's Paradise, Lake Norfolk--Heart of the Ozarks, Bull Shoals Lake, etc. The top rim has decoupage place names, such as Scandinavia, Rio. The top lid, in traditional Caro Nan fashion, has decoupage stickers and a penny dated 1967. The reverse of the wood lid says Caro Nan and Ella Thomas Ozark Center. The interior is a blue foulard cotton fabric. The bottom is black velvet-like fabric. The popular purses were created by Carolyn McDaniel and Nancy Steele--thus Caro Nan--in the '60s. Shops across the USA would have purses hand designed for them to sell and to advertise. They remained popular tourist purchases and are now seeing a resurgence in interest. Size: 10" across, 9 1/4" tall; 18 1/2" handle Condition: good vintage--at the top front rim where it says You'll Love Rio there is a tear in the paper; on the left side there are teeny pin dots of paint--you'll have to search for those Price: $50 #8333a Pur