Where'd You Get That? Vintage Airline Bags
A few pieces from the author’s collection of old flight bags.
What is it about a vintage airline bag that inspires such nostalgia? It immediately transports you back to a time before weight restrictions and #CarryOnShame, a time when airlines used to give out lavish amenities versus making you pay for your crackers and cheese onboard.
I’m a thrift-shop junkie, and whenever I spot a retro travel bag, I can’t help but snap it up. Especially when it calls to mind a carrier that no longer exists. I’ve got a retro Northwest Orient airlines tote. A duffel from Pan Am (of course!) with that iconic blue logo. And that’s just the start.
Related: The Perfect Travel Shoe
Among my favorite finds is a small orange Braniff purse —from a junk shop in Toronto — and a dozen little zippered coin purses that I spotted back in the day at a long-gone East Village vintage shop called Love Saves the Day. The colorful little pouches came in their original display case and hung in my office for many years, a reminder of a kinder, gentler era of air travel.
Now, my young daughter has made my airline bags her own, using them for playtime with her baby dolls. And I can’t help but wonder if some day she’ll look back at our current era of flying with nostalgia, yearning for vestiges of the past — boarding passes, in-flight magazines — that are quickly going the way of the airline travel bag.
Want more like this? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter so that we can inspire you every day.
