Random Saturday - I don't recognize you ...

... but I recognize your bag! You were here the other day!"
That happened to me in a store some years ago. I'm practically an invisible ninja if you didn't know that yet, but my shopper keeps giving me away.

There are usually two reactions.

1. "Do you have cats?" or "You have cats, don't you?"
If you think of the variety of purses and shoppers and totes around, it's rather amazing how many people react to a bag. I've heard it in shops, at the train station, on trains and even when I was just sitting on a park bench, and I never felt as if people were making fun of me.
Well, except for that one time on the bench at a train station when someone asked me where I got the bag while their pal stole my cell phone (not a smartphone) from it within seconds which was pretty crafty. I bet they both laughed their thieving little butts off afterwards. I only noticed on the train.
Of course, I was really mad, but it could have been worse, though, it could have been my wallet with all my cards or my keys.

2. "Mom, look! The woman has kittens on her bag!"
This one comes either very loud or whispered with a shy look in my direction. Little kids always loved my kittens.

Indeed, I have kittens on my shopper.
This post was inspired by the post "What's in my bag?" on "Within a world of my own". Thanks, Sally!

My last substitute shopper

Let me tell you something about my shopper.
I have had it for more than 35 years - the design, that is, not the shopper itself.
I got the first one as a gift from my ex-mother in law. It was a set of shopper and an umbrella I still own. Not that I have used it often, I don't like holding umbrellas and also tend to forget them on trains or elsewhere. I lost my first umbrella at five years old, it was red and had ruching all around, and the loss was devastating because it had been a birthday gift (and because I could be a drama queen even as a child).

When I opened the umbrella to take a picture, the color completely surprised me. I have no idea if it changed over the years or if it has always been like this and never really matched the shopper.
The shopper hanging from the door handle is the one currently in use, by the way.

Wait, I have one in use and one substitute?
That's right. It's what I meant by saying I've had the design (and the umbrella) for more than 35 years.
When my very first shopper gave up after a few years - my shoppers have to work hard and it's usually the handles and bottom corners going first -, I happened to see the exact same one in a shop and that's how it started.
I hardly go anywhere without it, full or not, it has become my signature piece. I usually say that if something doesn't fit in there, I don't need it. It carries heavy books, groceries, meds, gifts, and more. I can still see my ex at fleamarkets slipping finds into my bag with a wink, so I got a surprise when I opened it, especially if it was something for me.
He found stuff, I had to carry it because he never had a bag with him. Sometimes I had extra bags in the shopper.

One time, I couldn't find a substitute right away, so when I found it, I bought two and after that always got a new one when I retired one, so I would always have a substitute.
I should be on the fifth, maybe the sixth one now plus the extra.
Nowadays I would probably try to repair the old one first, sew up the straps and corners, or I would try to think of something to do with the fabric.
Actually that might be my only option eventually because von Lilienfeld - that's the brand - has not only retired the kitten design, they have also changed the design of their shoppers (you can get anything from famous paintings to penguins or merkats, also cats, but not my kittens), they are smaller. I'm not amused.
I have already looked around if I can find one elsewhere, used maybe, but only found two in the USA, one of them a knock-off, both of them no option.

I also have a small version of the shopper, by the way, which I obviously haven't used since 2007 as it still has the Maientag badge from that year (see here to learn about the local Maientag badges)! The badges are usually available around the beginning of May and as soon as I have mine - I always pick yellow and red with rare exceptions - I put the yellow on my shopper and I used to put the red on my small handbag. Oops. Guess I haven't been "out" in that long.

You may want to ask if these are really the only bags I own and the answer is no.
I have several more hand/book/tote bags in different sizes with cats on them. Most of them were gifts, well meant, some of them are really extra cute, but none of them has been used more than a few times.
I use small totes (with cats on them, surprise!) as extras sometimes if I think I'm going to need them, but mostly these bags hang around the place and look cute.
I'm just an extreme creature of habit sometimes and in this case I have embraced it full-heartedly. Without my trusted shopper, I feel lost.

Maybe I'll gather all the other cat bags for a group session sometime and introduce them to you in another random Saturday post.