Welch: Purple gator luggage makes statement
Purple gator luggage makes statement
A woman is known by her luggage.
That’s a sales pitch my mother and grandmother heard from a store clerk in Electra, Texas, presumably in the 1920s when Electra was a boomtown and you could buy a set of genuine purple alligator luggage there. I picture a fashionably dressed flapper standing at the train station next to her impressive set of gator hide luggage, hatbox included.
During my growing up years, and later as well, my mother repeated the luggage saying often enough to make me believe it. I wish I could say my grandmother bought her that purple luggage and I still have it. That didn’t happen, and I don’t.
Meanwhile, think. If you’re really are known by your luggage, who are you? My late cousin Lawrence and I tended to show up at family reunions with our clothes and toiletries in grocery sacks. Must have been a shared gene.
My grocery sack gene did not come straight from my parents. They were happy to carry matching tan Samsonite luggage. That line was quite popular at mid-century. Yes, I still have it. Take it on a plane if you want something easy to spot on the luggage conveyer belt or spinning wheel or whatever they call those suitcase moving things where everybody’s luggage looks alike unless you have tan mid-century Samsonite.
OK. It’s been a while since I’ve checked luggage on an airplane. Vintage Samsonite-deprived travelers have figured out ways to make even an ordinary black bag recognizable, no doubt. Not that any sane person these days would opt for old wheel-less Samsonite for its recognizability. Gotta have wheels.
In fact, luggage has evolved over the centuries to include more nifty features than just wheels and collapsible handles. Some suitcases transform themselves into desks or shelves or both, complete with phone chargers. Throw in GPS trackability.
Perhaps the most avant-garde suitcases have cup holders too or even coffee-making capabilities when plugged in. Why not? The ability to boil water with a suitcase opens up a realm of possibilities. The perfect add-on feture would also pop popcorn.
The more things change the more it’s pretty much true that there’s nothing new under the sun. I’m thinking of those really big pieces of luggage that people carted onto ships for ocean crossings. They opened into mini-armoires, offering hanging space and drawers, didn’t they? If only there’d been electrical outlets in passengers’ cabins more enhancements could have graced those big closet-like trunks. Did anyone ever minimize a wardrobe to smuggle a diminutive non-claustrophobic servant on board?
Just the thought of stowing away for a sea voyage to somewhere exotic without having to pay for passage sounds very appealing. But squeezing into somebody’s footlocker would obligate you to servanthood for the whole voyage. Better a lifeboat.
We digress.
Closing thought:
Here’s hoping the word “luggage” never acquires the same negative meaning as “baggage.” If it does, we’ll be able to say the term “luggage” has baggage.
My mother wouldn’t like that. Not at all.
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Welch: Purple gator luggage makes statement
