Mystery Of The Long-Lost Purse Solved After 57 Years

GLENCOE, IL — At first, when crews working on some duct work while renovating the Glencoe Public Library this spring discovered a lost purse, it was a mystery. The black leather clutch was missing a wallet or identification, but it contained a few clues: some lipstick, a single earring, a pencil, a nail brush, two black-and-white photographs and — most important — an appointment card for an Ellen Pritikin at the office of a Glencoe dentist.

On Tuesday, the library announced the mystery has been solved. Even though the appointment card was missing a year, it mentioned that Oct. 11 had been on a Thursday, allowing a Glencoe reference librarian to deduce the purse was lost in 1966 or earlier.

The librarian tried calling various Pritikins listed in the area but found none who knew an Ellen Pritikin. She learned an Ellen Pritikin graduated from nearby Evanston Township High School in 1964. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news for Glencoe, Winnetka — or your community. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

Eventually, through online resources, Glencoe research librarian Maureen Liebenson located the woman whose belongings went missing more than five decades ago.

Ellen Pritikin Polito, who moved to Berkeley, California, in 1968, was delighted to hear the news but says she didn't remember the incident, which she suspects was not too traumatic since she was not carrying a lot of money or anything that needed to be replaced.

"I was amused by the find," Polito told Patch via email. "And it's brought back a lot of memories."

Polito figured the purse was lost the year she entered New Trier High School as a freshman.

"I'm sure it was stolen, in late summer or early fall 1960. I was 14 years old, and would only have been carrying a purse as a place to put my wallet," Polito wrote. "Since there wasn't a wallet found in the purse, my wallet had to have been taken and the purse dumped." Pritikin said she moved to Evanston the following year.

Polito volunteered at the Glencoe Public Library during seventh and eighth grade in 1959 and 1960. She enjoyed the experience and remembers the librarians as warm and welcoming. She's continued to be a supporter of local libraries ever since.

Today, Polito is a docent at the History Gallery of the Oakland Museum of California, where she leads school children on tours. One of her goals, she told Patch, is to help teach students to closely investigate artifacts.

"The library used my purse to engage the patrons, particularly the children, with a display of Nancy Drew books, to think about how to solve the mystery of how long the purse might have been in the walls, and what the owner's story might be," she said. "I'm going to try to use one of our cases as a puzzle, a 'mystery' — what did the curator need to know to put these artifacts together? What story do they tell? Should be fun to try it out."

The library said it will will return Polito’s belongings, despite its lost-and-found policy of discarding all items left for more than six months. The library’s executive director, Andrew Kim, extended his thanks to reference librarian/detective Liebenson and to the many members of the public who contributed clues and enthusiasm.

Polito told the library she was especially looking forward to receiving the 57-year-old photographs. One of the two shows girl she did not recognize, but the other is of her grandmother, Fanny Pritikin, in front of the Kewanee home of Polito's aunt.

As for the dentist whose appointment slip helped track her down?

"Dr. Dunn was obviously very skilled," she said. "The two fillings that he did have never needed to be replaced, much to the surprise of my current dentist."

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Top photo: Exhibit of the artifacts found in Ellen Pritikin Polito's long-lost purse at the Glencoe library | via Glencoe Public Library