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OPENING:
If These Bags Could Talk
Joslyn flipped the old-fashioned sign on the front door of her shop so customers approaching from the street would read the “Open” message. She returned to contemplate the unusual little, green suitcase which she’d just acquired. Judging by the size and style, it was meant for a child of perhaps eight to twelve. It was one of those old bags that could be used either as a backpack or as a suitcase on wheels to be pulled along by a handle that extended from the back. Luggage like this had been quite popular in the early part of the century, but this one was unique. Which was exactly why she had been attracted to it.
Most antique shops that specialized in baggage preferred classic examples of each style, looking for pieces in pristine condition. Their customers wanted to find a piece that reminded them of one they’d seen as a child, perhaps a piece of luggage that their parents or grandparents had owned. Like the old rolling, “carry-on” bags that people once used when traveling. There used to be an entire industry that manufactured these pieces to fit precisely in “overhead bins” – storage compartments within the passenger areas of jets. She chuckled to herself. The old photo she displayed above the counter, circa 2020, showing crowds of people pulling rolling bags behind them in an airport always delighted her customers. What a sight!
Other dealers craved well-preserved samples of bags like those. Joslyn cared more about items that carried the unique stories of their previous owners.
“If these walls could talk.” That was an expression she’d heard from her grandmother, but she preferred her own version, substituting “bags” for “walls.” Walls could be witness to lives spent indoors, but a suitcase or backpack or trunk might travel anywhere in the world. Whenever she saw a used piece of luggage, she would begin to wonder. Where has it been? What did it carry? Who owned it? Where did they go? Why?
What is the story behind this bag?
Take this piece, for example. Joslyn picked it up again, examining it from all sides. Over the years, someone – or multiple owners – had affixed decals to the front. She could tell that there were actually layers of stickers, bits of the earliest ones turned gray and illegible. The most recent additions were intriguing. Had the owner actually traveled to the far-away destinations displayed, to Dubai and Islamabad, to what was once Afghanistan and to Ethiopia and Vietnam, the top-most stickers? Or were those destinations merely a dream?
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