Around the World with Savoir Faire

Remember when around the world trips were practically de rigeur for anyone in the know? Whether by train, plane or ship, one travelled in style without the hustle and bustle and the general blah of travel these days.

Airlines, hotels and shipping companies would take your luggage and paste or attach a brightly coloured label on to it signifying where your luggage was going or where it had been. Nowadays we get a computer generated tag with a bar code which looks just as exciting as a receipt from a supermarket.

Hotel labels remained on a suitcase as a testament to where we had been, much to the envy of our friends. Years later vintage luggage would turn up at a variety of flea Markets and second hand stores plastered with labels and one could only wonder of the travels the original owners had had.

Labels were mini artworks created to convey the exotic and the luxury of travel. One was proud of the assortment and variety of labels on ones luggage. So bring back the label, so that even if we are not somewhere exotic, we can look at our luggage and plan our next trip.