traveling in the golden era

[1930artdeco]

How did people pack their clothing when traveling? I always see small suitecases and they only take one or two with them. Did they wash their clothes a lot or just wear them for multiple days? Were their vacations just really short so they did not need many clothes?

Mike

 

[Stanley Doble]

Maybe the suitcase is what they carry for the train trip of 1 or 2 days and they sent their trunks on ahead. You could wash out socks and undies in the train or hotel wash basin and let them dry overnight. Make a shirt do for more than one day. Send out your laundry and dry cleaning when you stopped at a hotel and have them back overnight.

You could easily get by with 1 suitcase for a week if it was just a matter of travelling from A to B. If you wanted your beach wear, evening clothes, extra shoes, hats, etc that would involve a lot more luggage.

Here is a tip from the Golden Age. Don't fold your trousers, roll them up. It preserves the crease and prevents unwanted wrinkles.

...................................................................

For an illustration of Golden Age packing, watch the beginning scenes of After the Thin Man and Another Thin Man.

The first shows Nick and Nora getting dressed and packing up in their compartment then stepping off the train carrying one suitcase after a transcontinental trip.

The other shows their baggage being thrown off the train, onto a truck and delivered to their hotel suite by a crew of baggage men with 2 wheeled dollies.

The baggage includes 3 trunks in graduated sizes, large for Mr. Charles, medium for Mrs Charles, small for Nick Junior, a dog carrier and a crated fire hydrant for Asta the dog (ha ha). The parade of baggage men is raced by a waiter bearing a tray of drinks (double ha ha ).

After the Thin Man trailer showing sleeper compartment scene and suitcase.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZuTCnxTXcI&feature=related

 

[deco_droid]

Interesting topic. I found a four piece Wheary suitcase set from the 30s awhile back, which would lead me to believe a couple should be able to pack all they need in 3 or 4 pieces -- if they packed well.

 

[Stanley Doble]

It's all according. If a couple were going for a motor trip they would pack lighter than for a more formal affair. You used to be able to buy fitted luggage made to go in the trunk of one specific car. That sounds like the set you describe.

On the other hand a couple from New York who were going to spend a month in Saratoga or winter at a resort in Florida would want at least 2 trunks probably more.

 

[LizzieMaine]

On the other end of the scale, you'd find people who packed everything they could possibly carry into a leather "grip" -- a valise or a Gladstone bag -- or a cheap cardboard or wicker suitcase held closed by a length of clothesline. A lot of immigrants from the rural South to the industrial North arrived this way during the Depression and war eras.

 

[Shangas]

Back in the golden era, you had to pack for the journey as well as for the destination.

London to new York? A week by steamship.

Los angeles to shanghai? Two weeks.

England to Singapore or hong kong? 2-3 months.

Now where did I put my steamer trunk...