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