Why Vintage Luggage Labels Are Collector Items

Luggage has always been a way for people to show the world their personality. It can also allow people to share their individuality. With modern luggage this is limited by color or style such as choosing hard-sided or soft-sided luggage. In earlier times, steamer trunks were in heavy use and people personalized their luggage by using luggage labels. Many of these labels were issued by the world's best hotels, ships and trains.

The reason why labels were so popular in earlier times was because of the way the world traveled. It is hard to imagine a time where people traveled across oceans before airplanes or cars but before these existed people traveled by boat or train. These were slower forms of travel and thus you had to pack more things. Thus to carry these things you needed a large, durable storage box. And the steamer trunk was born. These were basically large storage boxes but were reinforced for travel and not just storage. And were covered in canvas, leather or patterned paper similar to how our luggage is covered today (except replace "patterned paper" with painted plastic or colored nylon). Finally while we know them as steamer trunks, when they were popular they were known then as "packers" or "cabin trunks" more often than steamer trunks, but modern name is "steamer trunk".

Luggage labels initially had a practical purpose. They were used to easily identify groups of people who were taking the same train or staying a specific hotel. These labels allowed the porters and bell hops to quickly and easily figure out where to take the luggage. However, later they became the equivalent of travel trophies for the traveling class. They showed to these around them that they could afford to travel extensively and even within their same social class - they could show how well they were doing simply by demonstrating which exclusive and or exotic locations they had been.

Labels were first issued in the early 1800s. They were very popular until World War 2 when the war ended global travel. After the war, people didn't travel as long because the proliferation of airplane travel reduced the duration of trips. And thus people traveled with smaller and lighter luggage instead of steamer trunks. And thus luggage labels died out.

But as with many other things that were once popular but now have fallen out of favor - luggage labels are popular collectible items. For example a simple eBay search for "luggage label" came back with over 6000 results. They are tangible reminders of a by-gone era of romantic travel. However, let's face it - it's great that you can fly from New York to London in only a few hours, but for most people it's about as glamorous as sardines in a can. While fewer people could travel in the era of steam trunks and luggage labels - we all like to imagine we would have been a member of that class and it was such epic glamour. And these labels are a reminder of that time.