Sarah E. Goode- handbag

Pewter (grey, body) and Aqua( blue) leather( trim and under handle) handbag (handle is embossed in grey & Aqua) that's soft to the touch. This attractive bag measures 14" X 12" it is fully lined and has two interior pockets. As well as two exterior pockets. The front pocket is on a slant ,while the rear pocket is rectangular shaped, with a zippered closure.

                                               "Bag me home with you "

She was born as Sarah Elisabeth Jacobs in 1855 in Toledo, Ohio, the same year the Fugitive Slave Act was enacted. Sarah Goode was the second of seven children of Oliver and Harriet Jacobs, both described in public records as Mulattos. The family then moved to Chicago, Illinois where she met and married Archibald "Archie" Goode, who described himself in the records as a "stair builder" and as an upholsterer; So she opened a furniture store.

Goode invented a folding cabinet bed which helped people who lived in tight housing to utilize their space efficiently. At the time of her invention, housing in New York City was expanding upwards, but became restricted in 1885 when New York City passed a law that restricted buildings to be under 80 feet, as to combat commercial buildings becoming too tall. Tenement buildings usually had a footprint of 25 feet by 100 feet. In these environments, every square foot was important, and saving space was necessary. Goode heard of this problem from customers of her furniture store in Chicago, and set out to make a solution. Goode's bed could be folded up, and it looked like a desk, with room for storage.  Her invention was the precursor to the Murphy bed, which was patented in 1900. Her goal was to balance out the weight of the folding of the bed for it to be easily lifted up, folding and unfolding and to secure the bed on each side so that when folding the bed it would stay in its place. She provided supplementary support to the center of the bed when it is unfolded..