Still working on figuring out the age indicators

I haven't found any good sources for determining the ages of vintage American Tourister suitcases so I'm just working on trying to figure it out on my own.  I believe that the Tri-Taper is the oldest, the one with this kind of latch

But, that is just my guess.  Some other differences are in the handles.  There are these kind:

but I don't see many of those around.  The one I see most often is like this:

I have Tri-Tapers, Tiaras and the one that just says "Tourister" all having this type of handle.  I only have the one with that first handle pictured above (it is a Tri-Taper) so I'm assuming it is my oldest piece.
Another difference I've found is the American Tourister metal label.  Here are the two versions I've seen

again, with the later picture being the most common.

Score!! 2 New American Tourister Train Cases

Score, a photo by by Shelley Faye on Flickr.

Just brought these two babies home. They STINK! and are filthy. No worries... they will be beautiful by the time the sun goes down today.

Luggage tags on Vintage American Tourister suitcases

In my quest for information on vintage American Touristers I've found that I'm really enjoying looking at the details and the differences.  I have found very little factual information on how to date these cases so all I can do is keep collecting information.  One special little detail on the American Touristers is the cute, kitschy little tag.  The style is iconic but if you look closely, they aren't all the same. 

The above one is totally smooth and printed on the rubber or plastic or whatever these things are made of.  The one below is embossed and embossed without a color. 

The thing about these tags, is that they can't really be dated by the case that they are attached to because they are on a ball chain, which is removeable and can easily be added or moved from one case to another.  This one pictured below, came from an eBay auction and as you can see... the font is slightly different from the first picture above.  Someone could easily buy the tag and add it to any case.

To be honest, I've done it myself.  That is not the original tag for the red one at the top, it also came off of a gold Tiara overnight case that I sold a few years back.

If I were to guess, I'd say that the embossed tags were the older ones and the smaller font would be the most recent of the ones pictured.

Craft Show displays made from Vintage Suitcases

Probably the place that you'll have the most vintage hard-shell suitcase sightings would be at a handmade crafts show.  Especially the indie ones! They are so handy for craft shows because they double as storage. You can store your crafts inside, carry them into the show, open up the case and boom.... display is done. (ok, so there is a little more work than that in setting up a craft show booth but still... you get what I mean)
The other day I was surfing around the web looking at suitcases when I came across this

http://pommes-frites.blogspot.com/2010/07/craft-fair-booth-display-vintage.html

Adorable right? I've bee using my vintage cases for my craft show displays for awhile, but I've been using just the plain case... as is.  Mine didn't have anything fancy, I just open it up, arrange my softies inside and sling my banner over the top, see... here's me

(above picture taken by Eric Bojanowski for the Sun-Sentinel article about Odd Duck)

But, I've got one case that I never used because it is HUGE and any softies that I prop up indie just don't fill the vertical space. So, I figured I'd get crafty.  I dug out the saw and managed to cut a piece of peg board the right size to fit inside.

I didn't permanently attach it because the interior if this case is pristine and I just couldn't bring myself to make permanent changes.  Surprisingly I was lucky enough to get the size of the board just right and it just sticks in there by itself held on by the interior trim! Honestly I don't know what I am going to use this for because I don't really sell anything that would be displayed hung from a peg board, but oh well... I am still proud of my handiwork.  Next I'll paint the peg board to match the suitcase and sometime between then and my next show... maybe I'll find a use for it.
Below is a picture of my kids trying it out to make sure it holds strong enough.  They were running around just hanging up anything they could find.  Here we have a pac man plush, a sugar skull plush, two aprons and a wii remote.

I found a seller on Etsy who makes and sells these sorts of vintage luggage display cases already made for you.  I also found several tutorials on how to make Vintage Luggage into craft show displays.

http://www.lynnminneydesigns.com/2011/07/12/tutorial-tuesday-vintage-suitcase-to-craft-show-display/
http://greenupgrader.com/15758/vintage-suitcase-craft-project/ 
http://leafytreetopspot.blogspot.com/2011/01/friday-finds-craft-show-display-ideas.html

If you are looking for a vintage suitcase to upcycle,  eBay is an easy way to find one without having to take repeated trips to the thrift store with your fingers crossed.

Red Vintage American Tourister "Ladies Hat and Shoe Case" Tiara

I'm such a dork

This is a picture of me on the day I got my most favorite suitcase in my collection.  I had been drooling over a round "Ladies Hat and Shoe case" one day on eBay and I shared the auction listing for it on my facebook page hoping that one of my relatives would think it was a great idea to buy it for me for Christmas. 

 

It was such a pretty case. It was white and had never been used so the bidding went up close to two hundred dollars! I didn't get that white case, but my friend Katrina from Eclectica Miami saw my post and told me she had a red one for sale.  I immediately told her I wanted it.  Red is my favorite color!  I was vending at the Indie Craft Bazaar that weekend so Katrina said she'd deliver it to me there.
As you can see from picture one to picture two, it has gotten dark outside and here I am, still prancing around with my suitcase. 

Other things to notice in these pics.... my hand crafts behind me Kitschy Aprons and Handmade by Shelley Faye (the softies nestled in that yellow vintage American Tourister!) I know... shameless.  Shameless self-promotion.

Gonna sell this one soon

My collection has gotten a little larger lately than I had intended.  I keep telling my husband, who is not a collector of anything and not amused by oddities, that as I find nicer pieces, I'll get rid of the duplicates.  So, in order to be a good wife and live up to my word... this one has gotta go.

 I picked up this little case at a craft show last fall from my friend Amy of Fabulous Finds & Design.  If you are into vintage luggage, this lady is someone that you will want to get to know!  She is so dedicated to the hunt for vintage goods and I have no idea how she stays in business because her stuff isn't pricey.

 This case is in really great shape except for a small stain on the inside and the fabric that goes across from the top to the bottom of the interior is ripped on the sides therefore making it stick out sometimes when you shut it (pic above).  I like how this one, unlike the American Touristers, lays flat when opened and only has two closures instead of three.   

 It is a really cute piece but it looks so similar to my most recent eBay score that one of the two need to find a new home.  Below picture is the two of them together.  Looks like they could be friends.

  *UPDATE*
This suitcase found a new home over the weekend before I even had a chance to click "publish" on this blog post.  Hopefully it is enjoying it's new home with Coma Girl. I traded it for some art. I think I got a pretty sweet deal too!

American Tourister Ad from the 1970s

Is missing a foot really that bad?

Even though I just bought one exactly like this last week, I'm drooling over this vintage American Tourister.  It is cheap too!  If it weren't missing a foot, I'd have already bid on it.  Check out how clean the insides are!  And I am loving the original papers. 

I'm gonna need to go and measure all of my tri-tapers now to figure out what their "official" names are.  One of my goals in writing this blog is to find out more about these treasures... not just contribute to my vintage suitcase hoard.

The first post

The first post is always the hardest. I am so excited about creating this blog and have so many things that I want to share but getting things organized and set up is the hard part. The next challenge will be sticking with it!
I'm not setting a lofty post-everyday sort of goal, nothing crazy like that, just want a place to gush about my new obsession.... Vintage hard-shell suitcases.
More specifically, American Touristers, but more than likely my fascination will expand to reach all the brands.
I guess I'll start at the beginning.
It was about 10 years ago when I was at my grandma's house being nosey and opening all the closets in the upstairs part of the house that no one used anymore.  There were three bedrooms up there but unlike modern homes, you couldn't stand completely upright in all the spaces and it has these really strange, short closets that follow the roof-line. I always loved to look through the stuff up there because my grandma was so stylish and had the neatest things.  Those rooms were barely ever used, so they tended to be the place where the stuff that no one used any more, but no one wanted to throw away ended up.
I discovered a hot pink Samsonite hard-case suitcase and fell in love.  I pulled it out and opened it to find another, smaller one inside.  How neat!  I was a full-grown adult at this time, mind you, but I'd never noticed how cool these things are before that day.  I grew up a military brat, so we traveled.  We always had suitcases.  Just never any suitcase that actually had enough character for me to take notice.  After having this epiphany, I realized that my own parents had been using a set of avocado green hard shell Samsonites just like this set forever!  All through my childhood and I never noticed!  I guess the color is why I never cared before.
Grandma's suitcases were HOT PINK.  That is awesome!  At some point in the last 10-years modern suitcases have begun to be more colorful again, but at around the turn of the century, it seemed that every suitcase you saw was solid black or a gray/black combo.  I just had to have this HOT PINK luggage!
I ran downstairs and asked if I could have it.  Because I only saw Grandma, maybe once a year or once every other year and I am number 12 of her 14 grandkids, she usually said yes when I asked her for things.  This time it took some begging.  *remember... full-grown adult at the time* She finally gave in and let me have the whole set.
Did I mention that the insides had polka dots? oh yes, polka dots.
I no longer have this set... another story... another time.  But I found some like them on eBay for a visual.

Photos credit: eBay seller 440slapstick