Travel bag made from carpet or similar materials
This article is about the luggage. For the political term, see
carpetbagger
.
A
carpet bag
is a top-opening travelling bag made of
carpet
, commonly from an
oriental rug
. It was a popular form of
luggage
in the United States and Europe in the 19th century, featuring simple handles and only an upper frame, which served as its closure. Some small modern versions are used as
handbags
or purses.
The Reconstruction-era carpet bag illustrated is made from a remnant of Printed Tapestry Velvet Carpet (Whytock ; patent 1832, Edinburgh). Extant examples of this style of carpet can be seen at
Hampton National Historic Site: National Park Service: Towson, Maryland
, and
Andrew Jacksons Hermitage in Nashville, Tennessee, USA
.
History
[
edit
]
The carpet bag was invented as a type of inexpensive personal
baggage
light enough for a passenger to carry, like a
duffel bag
, as opposed to a large rigid wooden or metal
trunk
, which required the assistance of
porters
. In 1886, the
Scientific American
described it as old-fashioned and reliable, "still unsurpassed by any, where rough wear is the principal thing to be studied. Such a bag, if constructed of good
Brussels carpeting
and unquestionable workmanship, will last a lifetime, provided always that a substantial frame is used."
[1]
Its use implied self-sufficiency: in
Jules Verne
's 1873 novel
Around the World in Eighty Days
,
Phileas Fogg
and
Passepartout
bring only a carpet bag as luggage, which holds a few items of clothing and a great deal of cash.
Carpet bags used to be made of
Oriental rugs
or the Brussels carpet referred to above, with "a heavy pile formed by uncut loops of wool on a linen warp".
[2]
Carpet was the chosen material because "remainder" pieces were easily bought for its manufacture.
[
citation needed
]
Some carpet bags could also serve as a "railway rug", a common item in the 19th century for warmth in drafty, unheated rail-cars. The rug could either be opened as a blanket, or latched up on the sides as a travelling bag. From
Robert Louis Stevenson
's
Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes
(1879): "... my railway-rug, which, being also in the form of a bag, made me a double castle for cold nights."
[3]
Carpetbags made something of a brief resurgence in the 1960s with the emergence of the
Hippie
generation, salvaged from old family attics and second-hand stores. This gave rise to limited new manufacture as a trendy fashion accessory.
[4]
Cultural impact
[
edit
]
The
carpetbaggers
of the
Reconstruction Era
following the
American Civil War
?Northerners who moved to the South for economic or political opportunity?were given their name from often carrying only this type of luggage, implying they came with little while hoping to acquire lots.
[
citation needed
]
References
[
edit
]
Look up
carpetbag
in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
- ^
Scientific American Supplement, No. 561, 2 October 1886 ebook: John T. Humphrey "Useful Bags and How to Make Them" Pg. 49
- ^
"Brussels carpet definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary"
.
www.collinsdictionary.com
. Retrieved
10 May
2019
.
- ^
Robert Luis Stevens, "Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes" (1879)
- ^
The Salt Lake Tribune, "Jerry Terrence brings back his popular bags from the '60s for a new generation" (13 February 2006)
External links
[
edit
]