Here are some passages referencing where women put their gloves, fan, purse, etc.:
(a younger girl) “she fancied how her mamma would smile and kiss her, and how her papa would look pleased; and then she thought she would just take the gloves out of her pocket to see how tidy they were. She put her hand into her pocket, and pulled out first her pocket-handkerchief, and then some pretty colour pebbles which she had picked up during her walk, but her gloves were not there; there was no use feeling quite down to the bottom of the pocket, and turning it inside out, and shaking it – the gloves were actually quite gone; though Helen looked anxiously along the gravel walk and in and out among the raspberry bushes, she could not see them anywhere.”
Blind man’s holiday; or, Short tales for the nursery, by the author of ‘Mia and Charlie’.: or, Short tales for the nursery, by the author of ‘Mia and Charlie’. By Annie Keary Published 1860 LondonThis is a child “…as Effie took out of her pocket her gloves, or pocket-handkerchief, or something or other, she pulled out at the same time Fritz’s letter and dropped it.”
By mrs. Florence Williamson By William Kirkus Published 1864 London“She [Clara] took the gloves, thrust them roughly into the pocket of her dress, bowed coldly and haughtily to the restorer of them, and turned again towards the party with whom she had previously been conversing.”
Chambers’s Edinburgh journal By William Chambers, Robert Chambers Published by W. & R. Chambers, 1853 Edinburgh“ ‘That reminds me,’ observed Maria, a young lady with some pretensions to good looks, ‘I had better put on my gloves; I have let my hands grow coarse and brown lately that I am ashamed of them, and just because it was too hot to cover them. I think my gloves must be in my bag;’ and diving into the profundities of a black silk affair which hung from her arm, and which also contained her missal and pocket-handkerchief, she withdrew the gloves, and commenced pulling them on.”
The slave son By Marcella Fanny Wilkins, William Noy Wilkins Published by Chapman and Hall, 1854
“She, supposing it to be some slur upon her religion, carelessly slipped it into her pocket and thought no more of it. The following morning, as she was taking her gloves out of her pocket, the piece of paper fell to the ground, and on examining it she found it to be a guinea note.”
The living sacrifice; or, A short biographical notice of Sarah Bentley: or, a short biographical notice of Sarah Bentley, of York …. By John Lyth, Sarah Bentley Contributor W. R. Lyth Published by W.R. Lyth, 1848
“Having carefully rolled up, and deposited her gloves in her pocket, she pulled out a pin-cushion…”
Marriage: A novel By Susan Ferrier Published by Harper & brothers, 1847
“Her gloves were rolled up in a little ball in her pocket. She was at an age when gloves are rather a nuisance then otherwise.” [meaning an older age]
The doctor’s wife, by the author of ‘Lady Audley’s secret’. By Mary Elizabeth Braddon Published 1864 London
“Confident of success, she talked and laughed with unusual liveliness, and as soon as the meal was over, she went out with the fan in her pocket, and Charles by the hand.” [French setting possible]
Seven Years, and Other Tales By Julia Kavanagh Published by Hurst and Blackett, 1860
“‘Have you my fan?’ said Mrs. Quigg. I clapped my hand to the pocket where it should have been. There was no fan there. It was gone.”
The United States Democratic Review By Thomas Prentice Kettell, Making of America Project, Conrad Swackhamer, D. W Holly, Spencer Wallace Cone, Isaac Lawrence Published by Langtree and O’Sullivan, 1855“ ‘Are you too hot, my dear?’ asked her tormentor, taking a fan out of her pocket, and raising as she spoke…”
The inheritance, by the author of Marriage. By the author of ‘Marriage’. Revised by the author By Susan Edmonstone Ferrier Published 1841
“Taking a box from her pocket, which she said contained the finest lozenges in the world for the preservation of the voice, she requested that one of the gentlemen would have the goodness to provide her with a glass of water, which was placed by the side of her pocket-handkerchief, the box, the fan, and the smelling-bottle.”
“Modern Accomplishments” Home and the world By Mrs W Rives Published by D. Appleton and company, 1857 New York
“It is a good practice to carry a pocket fan even in winter, in case you should chance to feel the heat more sensibly than any other lady in the room.”
The behaviour book: a manual for ladies / by Miss Leslie By Eliza Leslie, Cairns Collection of American Women Writers Published by W.P. Hazard, 1853 Philadelphia
“She took a fan from her pocket….”
Autumn hours and fireside reading By Caroline Matilda Kirkland Published by Charles Scribner, 1854
“….she stepped into the carriage, took a place beside Madame d’Epplen, and demurely drew from her pocket a large fan, the movement causing the exposure of a pair of strong gauntlet gloves that had been concealed beneath, and which immediately protruded from their hiding-place, to the no small amusement of her companions.”
At Odds: A Novel By Jemima Montgomery Tautphoeus Published by R. Bentley, 1863 London
“‘Dear me, Mrs. Colton, I’m exhausted coming up those vile stairs!’ said Mrs. Fountain, drawing out of her pocket a beautifully carved fan, which she opened and began fanning herself, and displayed at the same time her white hand, which was covered with diamond and opal rings…”
Portraits of My Married Friends, Or, A Peep Into Hymen’s Kingdom: Or, A Peep Into Hymen’s Kingdom By Uncle Ben, Rhoda Elizabeth Waterman White Published by Appleton, 1858“The consciousness of this did not flash upon Mabel until she had drawn the
little silver reticule from her pocket and exposed her destitution …”
“Steadying herself against the post of the folding- door, she took a pair of
scissors from her pocket”
“She drew an elaborately worked purse of green silk from her pocket and counted out into my hand three pieces of old French gold.”
”John Heathborn’s Tale” Harper’s new monthly magazine By Henry Mills Alden, Sarah Orne Jewett, Cairns Collection of American Women Writers Published by Harper & Brothers, 1864
[Queen Elizabeth] “A pocket looking-glass hangs from her side, and a fan is clasped in fingers loaded with precious stones…”
“Curiosities of Fashion, in the Matter of dress” Eclectic Magazine: Foreign Literature By John Holmes Agnew, Walter Hilliard Bidwell Published by Leavitt, Trow & Co., 1863
“A large fan of peacock feathers hung from her wrist….” [fanciful]
“The Toad’s Curse” Graham’s magazine By George R. Graham, Edgar Allan Poe, John Davis Batchelder Collection (Library of Congress) Published by G.R. Graham, 1853







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