The Collector: Traudle Ahern’s collection features beautiful and festive shopping totes

Traudl Ahern’s collection harkens to a time before retail customers were asked, “Would you like a bag for that?”

Several years ago, she began saving Nordstrom holiday-themed shopping bags.

“When I saw them, I thought they were works of art,” said Ahern, 91. “I said, ‘Oh, Nordstrom! Look what you’ve done!’ ”

She has about 17 in her collection, which includes a few totes without holiday themes.

From colorful Christmas ornaments to the world JOY spelled out in green atop a wintery background, each bag represents the spirit of the holidays.

Saving pretty things comes naturally to Ahern.

“I grew up in Berlin,” she said. “I was 12 when the war ended. I hated wasting things, and the bags are beautiful!”

She arrived in Wichita, Kansas, at age 25.

“That’s where my sponsors lived,” Ahern said. “What a culture shock! I realized I was way overdressed. I’d bought myself a new wardrobe because I was going to America.”

When two friends from Germany joined her, they set off to explore the country while working at several national parks.

She was working at Yosemite when she met her husband, who was attending a convention at the park.

“He was a Spokanite.”

She visited Nordstrom in Seattle and was excited when she heard they were opening a store in Spokane.

“It was 1974, the same year as Expo,” she said.

Ahern applied for a store credit card but wasn’t pleased when it arrived.

“It was in my husband’s name,” she said.

A store representative told her that was just the way things were done.

“I went down there and told them I have a name, I will be doing the shopping, and I will be paying the bill.”

She was issued a card in her name.

Her holiday tradition involved enjoying the festive atmosphere of downtown shopping. She’s not sure when she started keeping the shopping bags.

The collector isn’t alone in believing that the artwork is worth preserving. The Smithsonian National Postal Museum has at least one of her bags in its collection.

Made by American Harmony, the glossy tote is edged in navy and trimmed with tiny snowflakes. The front features a fireplace and a leaping dog in front of a Christmas tree.

From 1999-2001, Nordstrom’s holiday theme was based on the book “Olive, the Other Reindeer” by J. Otto Seibold and Vivian Walsh. The story tells the tale of a dog named Olive who thinks she might be a reindeer and wants to join Santa’s team.

Ahern has three Olive bags in her collection, including one with Olive sailing above a Nordstrom store. The other depicts the dog on a housetop with iconic Christmas themes displayed in the windows of the homes below.

One of her favorites is quite simple. Olive soars across a silver and white background with the words: “A time when wishes come true” printed below.

“It’s cheerful,” she said.

Some of Nordstrom’s holiday bags honor Hanukkah. Ahern pointed to a brown paper tote featuring two birds whose feathers resemble menorah candles.

Another celebrates Indigenous cultures with a caribou (reindeer cousin) clad in a patterned sweater, a red ornament dangling from its antler.

The memories of what holiday purchases the bags once held are long gone. Instead, the collection reminds her of a time when downtown Spokane bustled with department stores like the Crescent and discount stores like Newberry’s.

“It was nice – there were lots of people. It was a different shopping era,” Ahern said.

She smoothed a Nordstrom’s bag depicting a festive, snowy scene of buildings decked out with garlands of holly berries and warm lights glowing from trimmed windows.

“They don’t make stuff like this anymore,” she said.