Remember Travel Before Luggage with Wheels?
We take so many conveniences in our lives for granted. Think electricity, running water, and cars. But what about pausing for a moment to be grateful for luggage with wheels?
The most dreadful memory I have of travel is of lugging a heavy suitcase for ten weeks during a post-college-graduation trip to Europe in 1965. The suitcase was a blue Samsonite monster and must have weighed at least 12 pounds empty. Then I loaded it with all the changes of clothing I thought I needed to look debonaire, and to be comfortable. Of course, carrying 30 pounds of baggage made both of those aims impossible.
That suitcase pre-dated wheels. To carry it, I had to hold its single handle, tip to one side, and limp along like a wounded pack animal. Imagine doing that and then hurrying to catch a bus or train. I really don’t believe this effort made me stronger. It simply made me more misaligned and distorted. Not to mention irritable.
First Attempt of Wheels on Luggage
So I’m directing my gratitude to the two people who created luggage with wheels. The first was Bernard D Sadow who in 1970 was in a Caribbean airport struggling with luggage. He observed a local wheeling a big piece of equipment. The light bulb went off. He went home and put 4 casters on a horizontal suitcase and a strap at one end so it could be pulled behind. Unfortunately, men considered this design unmasculine so only intelligent women took advantage of it. However, its design was unstable making it tippy and it often ran into the legs of the person pulling it.
1987, the Year Travel Got Easier
Luckily for us, a full 17 years later, in 1987, a North-Western Airline pilot and DIY hobbyist Robert Plath got the bright idea to turn the suitcase vertically. He also added telescopic handles, and the option to pull the suitcase on two or four wheels. With these changes, men too were willing to pull a suitcase instead of carrying it. By now many more women were working and traveling and with everyone in need of easy travel the design took off.
Add the fact that purses and briefcases can now be purchased in backpack style we now have the option to be comfortable when traveling, like the woman below.
But no matter how convenient these new designs are there is still the issue of lifting and lowering suitcases onto the bed, into the car, and into the overhead bin. With a little know-how and good sense, you can avoid the dangers of lifting, and travel confidently.
In class this Wednesday at 5:30 pm PT or Friday at noon PT bring a suitcase packed or empty. We will practice bending safely to lift and lower your suitcase. You’ll learn what sensations you might feel when a suitcase is too heavy for you to lift safely. We’ll practice together how to bend so your spine, neck, shoulders, arms, and hands are safe.
~ Jean Couch
