Travelling in Style
Setting forth from your home base, whether for business travel or holidays, involves portable luggage, which ensures that our clothing and grooming essentials are always to hand when travelling. We’ve been pondering this very basic need and looking at the history of luggage and luggage-related etiquette.
The Evolution of Luggage
Young British gentlemen who embarked on the ‘grand tour’ of Europe in the late 18th century travelled in grand style and were frequently accompanied by an entire carriage dedicated to extensive wardrobes and even including indispensable items of furniture. Even a more modest Victorian gentleman traveller would have totally eschewed today’s portable cases. Travelling was the prerogative of the upper classes, who toured the world on steamships and packed a vast array of ‘essential’ items in bulky trunks, built of wood and leather on robust iron frameworks, which were constructed to withstand heavy seas and the danger of water damage. These behemoths were carried on to steamships and trains, or conveyed into hotels, by fleets of porters and bellhops. The traveller totally repudiated responsibility for his own luggage, but this freedom came at a very high price, which few could afford.
Recognisably modern, and portable, suitcases began to appear at the end of the 19th century. Travel was becoming more widely available for the masses, and they were roaming far and wide – making day trips to seaside resorts such as Brighton and Blackpool or venturing further afield to stay in huge resort hotels in countries such as Switzerland, Germany and Italy. Armed with Baedeker’s pocket-sized tourist guides (first published in 1827), an indispensable Bradshaw’s guide to Europe’s railway network and one of the new-fangled portable suitcases, late Victorian tourists began to explore the world. It was a golden age of travel, which was no longer the exclusive preserve of the wealthy and leisured classes.
By today’s standards the first suitcases were bulky and unwieldy. They were constructed of leather, wicker or thick rubber cloth, which was stretched over a rigid frame. Nevertheless, these hefty pieces of luggage were seen as symbols of freedom and opportunity, signifiers of a society that was both socially, and physically mobile. Inevitably, suitcases mutated to mirror the form of transportation that was most dominant. As trains were gradually supplanted by cars, suitcases became lighter and cheaper. A cardboard suitcase could easily be lodged in the car boot and was perfectly adequate for a motorist’s needs.
With the advent of air travel, luggage evolved yet again. Limited storage capacity on aeroplanes meant that bags were restricted to certain size and also needed to be robust enough to withstand rough treatment by baggage handlers. Passengers were obliged to walk, with their luggage, through increasingly extensive airports, and wheels and extendible handles turned bags into trolleys, ensuring that no heavy lifting was required.
The Appearance of the Wash Bag
Fully equipped with a suitcase or wheelie bag and ready to hit the open road, the next pressing question is: what should we pack? As well as supplies of clothing, it is imperative that our bags also contain our grooming and hygiene essentials. These small, and often fragile items clearly need to be contained within their own, protective container: the ubiquitous wash bag.
This utilitarian item of luggage also has an interesting history. In the 18th and 19th centuries gentlemen would have been the proud owners of magnificent dressing cases, containing bottles and jars of colognes and aftershave and items such as a razor and leather strop, scissors, a toothbrush, mirror and hairbrush. Frequently these boxes were made of exotic inlaid woods and were lined with silk or velvet. Glass jars were often bespoke items made of cut glass, with silver stoppers. These beautiful objects were aesthetically pleasing status symbols, considered to be an essential feature of the distinguished gentleman’s equipment.
Ladies had their own version, known as vanity cases, which contained all the grooming products considered essential for a woman on the move. Within their luxurious padded interiors, they housed a range of decorative bottles and jars, hairbrushes, combs, comprehensive manicure sets. Crystal, silver, gilt and ivory were much in evidence, while the exteriors of the boxes were veneered with exotic decorative woods from all over the world.
In the late 19th century, when steamships and steam trains opened up remote parts of the world and tourism became more commonplace, travelling dressing cases were introduced. These were heavy duty leather holdalls with a wooden frame, which opened at the top and sides, in the manner of an old fashioned ‘doctor’s bag’, to reveal an array of bottles, brushes, mirrors, manicure and writing sets. Frequently given as a 21st birthday present, these elaborate bags were made to order and were frequently adorned with monograms and coronets and endowed with bespoke fittings, such as silver and gold mountings, engraved accessories, and cut-glass bottles.
Nevertheless, these leather holdalls were unwieldy and heavy, requiring the services of porters and servants. It is scarcely surprising, therefore, that the mass movement of troops at the beginning of World War I demanded a more pragmatic option. Charles Doppelt was a German immigrant to the US who manufactured sturdy leather wash bags for the US military. These handy items were dubbed ‘Dopp bags’ or even ‘Dopps’ and have continued to be manufactured ever since in the US. They were the inspiration for the modern toiletry bag, which has continued to evolve – for both sexes, and are now made in a range of materials, from calfskin and waxed leather to canvas, cotton and velvet.
Luggage Etiquette
Wheelie bags, rucksacks, and lightweight holdalls have been universally adopted by the 21st-century traveller. But despite their convenience, they are still bulky items to lug around and good manners need to be deployed to ensure that luggage is never an inconvenience to other people.
•If you are checking in to a hotel it is usual to tip bellboys or porters who take your luggage to your room. Rates vary, but if one unit is equivalent to a pound, dollar or euro, then you should tip one or two units per item of luggage.
•If you have taken a taxi to your hotel, or to the station or airport, it is normally part of the service for the taxi driver to put your luggage in the boot and take it out at the other end. You should, of course, tip the driver – 10-15 per cent is usual in the UK.
•On trains, buses and undergrounds, do your utmost to ensure that your luggage is not causing an obstruction. Do not dump your suitcase on a spare seat – you haven’t paid for it and, even if the transport is empty when you get on, you may well be using up valuable space that could be better occupied by human passengers who board subsequently.
•Do your utmost to ensure that luggage does not block aisles or obstruct the leg space of passengers sitting opposite. Many trains and buses have luggage racks near the doors, or overhead luggage racks, where you can stow bags away safely.
•If you see someone struggling with a heavy bag when boarding, it is always a polite gesture to offer to help them stow it in the luggage rack (if you are strong enough to do so).
•Offer to help people stow their bags in overhead luggage racks on aeroplanes – these are quite high and difficult to reach for those of us who are short of stature, so be attentive during boarding and disembarkation and make sure that you’re on hand if assistance is required.
•Be aware at all times of people who are struggling with their luggage, for example when boarding a train and, if you are able to help, offer to do so.
•If you have a rucksack on your back, remove it on crowded public transport and place it between your feet. A substantial rucksack greatly increases the amount of physical space you occupy, and if you are blithely unaware of your large ‘humpback’ you will end up bumping into fellow passengers.
•Wheelie bags are extremely convenient, but if you are pulling them along quaint cobbled streets in a historic city centre, they will make a terrible racket. If it is late at night and the streets are quiet, be very mindful of the disturbance, and if possible, carry the bag over short distances to avoid waking up the entire neighbourhood.
The ease and convenience of travelling abroad has certainly been transformed since the days of steamer trunks, dressing cases and porters. But you should still be aware of bulky luggage and do your best to ensure that you do not irritate the people around you.
Top: ‘A railway station’, wood engraving by W.J. Linton, the Wellcome Collection