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My new 1930s Suitcase?

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Bags234 of 868Vintage Hiawatha tailored handi-bag Authentic Leather Bag Decorated AT WOODSTOCK 1969 w. Provenance
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    Posted 7 years ago

    jimtee99
    (1 item)

    I just bought this at a thrift shop in Tucson, Arizona so there's no background on it. It's leather bound, and 21 inches long, 18 inches tall, and 8 inches wide. I joined this group hoping I mind find an expert who can tell me the age.

    I'm a retired historian from the Arizona Historical Society, so I did some research. The baggage tags are from the Cunard White Star line and the Mauretania, which you can see written on the tag, was launched in 1938.

    At first I thought it was a replica because White Star had another Mauretania lunched in 1906, a sister ship to the Titanic. But the 1938 ship was launched just after the two companies merged. They liked to keep re-assigning the names because they stood for quality.

    I go to the beach every summer and thought it would be fun to get an old suitcase and paste copies of 1930s California travel posters reduced to sticker sized. I'm still going to do that, but this was a perfect find for that purpose.

    I welcome any input on the brand, age, and origins of the case. It's pretty stained as you can see from the picture, so I'm not worried about ruining the value by putting replica stickers on it. I'm going to use it for it's original purpose, and enjoy it on my vacations for years to come.

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    Comments

    1. blunderbuss2 blunderbuss2, 7 years ago
      Kind of like the Chiquita banana stickers in my passports for countries I slipped into "under the wire".
    2. Caperkid, 7 years ago
      I like your idea. Welcome to CW. I haven't seen suitcases by them that were so valuable you would have or want to leave it original. I'm no expert just my opinion.
    3. Caperkid, 7 years ago
      The stickers on the case I would try to save.
    4. jimtee99 jimtee99, 7 years ago
      Thanks Caperkid, I agree on both counts. I see online that leather cleaner would be best for cleaning, but I'll steer clear of the stickers. I may brush on lacquer to "fix" the stickers in their present state. In museum curation, they avoid acrylics because they can darken or crack with age.
    5. Caperkid, 7 years ago
      Visited Pier 21 In Halifax last year.( Ellis Island of Canada) they have many pieces like this. The Cunard Terminal is next door. They may have some information.

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