The famous vintage brand “Collins of Texas” was founded in 1946 in America. Original leather and box bags, decorated with designer metal fittings, large stones and paintings, were produced in Medina, Texas.
Miss Enid Rossler (Enid Collins when married) was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas. She spent 22 years creating and designing her bags for the Collins of Texas brand, which she and her husband Frederick Collins founded just after World War II, when they moved to a small ranch in Texas near Medina. Both of them were creative people. Enid studied costume design in the arts and crafts department at Texas Woman’s University. Frederick was an engineering draftsman whose hobby was animal sculpture.
Combining their talents, they began to create leather bags, hand-painted and stitched with ornamental metal elements made by Frederick. The living room on their ranch soon became a workshop where they made orders for their friends and small shops in the area.
A fashion designer friend of theirs suggested that they present samples of bags to a salesperson at the Neiman-Marcus department store. They did this and, to their great joy, received their first order for $500 to make bags and belts. This was the beginning of the founding of their brand.
Soon they could no longer cope with orders on their own and were forced to hire additional labor. They also needed to expand their workspace, so they rented a workshop in Medina.
Enid created designs for bags, jewelry and belts, and also trained employees. Frederick’s engineering background helped him find faster and better production methods. He also handled business matters for the company while Enid worked on advertising brochures and sales promotions. It was an effective working partnership, even though they were no longer married.
The first leather bags were lined with canvas (matting) and decorated with hand-made metal decorative elements. Then Enid decided to decorate bags with printing, and one of her friends showed her the principle of silk-screen printing. The designs were decorated with stones, rhinestones and sequins. And it became obvious that the more glitter, the higher the sales.
All designs had their own name, each told its own story, each had something special and personal that the future buyer could choose for himself. Here are some names of classic designs – “Money Tree”, “Night Owl”, “Sea Garden”, “Love”, “Crew”, “Cable Car”, “California Running Cuckoo”. She also did an amazing episode of Zodiac. There are over 100 designs that Enid has created. Her early works were typically marked with the “EC” logo in the lower right corner of the outside of the bag or box.
As the business grew, there was a need for less expensive designs, so Enid came up with the idea of a decorated wooden box bag. A mirror was inserted into the lids of these boxes. But this design was adopted very slowly. Then came the design of bags with papier-mâché and designer jewelry. Enid Collins’s latest contribution to fashion was cocktail and evening handbags, richly decorated with stones and gold leather handles.
The tiny workshop grew into two factories, one in Medina and one in Friedericksberg. Together they employed almost 200 people. Sales were made all over the world, and the demand for bags from the famous Collins from Texas grew steadily. Enid was the chief designer until 1970, when the company and all rights were sold to the Tandy Corporation.
Now bags of this brand are very popular among collectors and vintage lovers around the world. And their owners don’t even always decide to use them for their intended purpose. Rare designs that were produced in limited editions are especially prized. Enid Collins bags have a bright and memorable image, and are excellent examples of fashion style of the 50s and 60s of the last century.
