The Family Heirloom Suitcase Made Of Stitched Canvas And Leather Carries Generations Of Stories Its Interior Lining Frayed But Still Holding The Scent Of Past Voyages

Amid the growing trends of throwaway suitcases and online photos, there exists a product that contradicts our throwaway lifestyle—they are heirloom family suitcases, which are constructed out of stitched canvas with tattered leather. The suitcase is not just a simple container to hold clothing, but is an essential part of a family\'s history and is silent. The robust frame of the suitcase provides stability and durability to withstand years of use and travel, and the worn out, frayed, tattered lining in the suitcase, although coming apart, continues to contain an evocative, faint aroma of past travels that has been preserved through generations (remember the smell?); an aromatic combination of salt air from the ocean, old, yellowed paper, and exotic places distant and unknown to the user. Each suitcase encapsulates many generations through its seams; every scratch in the leather represents a single sentence of writing and every faded sticker represents a chapter of a lengthy history of a family. When we look at a suitcase, it causes us to reflect on the travels that have built and shaped our history; we can feel the physical connection to the people who were here long before us and to the legacy left behind in everyday items that can still be preserved and remembered when other aspects of life have been forgotten.
The Memory of Material Items: Physical Characteristics and Workmanship
The physical characteristics of the suitcase are indicative of a time period where goods were made to last forever through care and craftsmanship. The body of the suitcase was constructed from a heavy, tightly woven canvas; this was the optimal material for providing protection against rain if the suitcase were ever dropped in water on a dock or dirt if the suitcase were dropped on a dirt road in the countryside. The canvas body of the suitcase has appropriate reinforcement added to it, and the leather trim was added to give this suitcase a fashionable look. The leather trim and reinforcements of the suitcase were added by hand sewing with waxed thread using a process that creates a pattern of tiny ‘x’ shaped holes along the edge of the canvas, and every hole in the canvas was the result of careful planning with the purpose of providing a lifetime of use.Although they are old and tarnished, these brass locks still lock with a crisp, authoritative \"click\". Locks like these used to represent the end of the packing process for a traveler preparing for an exciting trip.

These pieces were created from materials which were chosen for accuracy instead of luxury. The leather and linen have developed a beautiful and varied surface by means of time and use, and this rich patina cannot be matched by any new product. The handles which are made from leather have darkened, as did every other hand before them; the hand of the grandfather, the hand of the mother and the hands of many other travelers. This will leave behind a history of their travels to many different places. The many scratches from the suitcase being put on trains, the warped sections that were created when the trunk was put into an attic for an extended period of time, are not presentations of a lack of care, but they are parts of the trunk\'s history. This trunk\'s intent was to never be discarded, rather it has been created with this philosophy of trust and reliability in every fiber and stitch.
The Scented Archive: What was inside the Trunk
To raise the lid from the trunk allows one to create memories that had previously been stored inside of it. The inside has, over time, faded into an off white with pastel like colors, with the original vibrance of the floral and paisley patterns having faded too much. Because it is made from fabric, which was thick and stiff at the time, it developed a very thin area along the corners of the books and jewelry boxes as well as many other precious items, when compared to when it was brand new. The wear created due to the use of this product should not be mistaken for the owner caring for it less. The fabric of the trunk is now like a piece of paper worn thin because it has allowed the memories of the past to live again.
However, the strongest scent that comes out of the trunk is from the items.This suitcase has many smells: old paper, wool, and organic decay. For its owner and family, however, the aromas in this suitcase represent their heritage. The lavender sachets from my great grandmother that she used to protect them from moths, the residual sweet smell of the tobacco from my grandfather\'s pipe, and camphor from the thick packed shirts of winter now long gone contain the scents of the journeys that were made with this suitcase. The salt and minerals from my ocean voyages, the dirt and dust from my train journeys, and the sharp, crisp air from my climbs to the top of mountains, all of these odors create a fragile yet powerful link between what once was and what is presently.

The marks made on the bag succumbed to the passage of time leave behind a footnote in time as to the history of this suitcase. A long, shallow scrape on the side might represent the panic of an escape, as the suitcase was caught below a door frame separating from danger. Those little dents on the bag\'s lid could indicate the lightened heart of a child using a suitcase as a step, looking out of a high window. The suitcase is not merely luggage; it provides an insight into the life of the owner, and for those with the right touch, these impressions hold the keys to understanding the history contained within the suitcase.

The stickers on the suitcase are like pieces of travel history, tiny reminders of happier times.The white-and-blue transatlantic steamship line labels, hotel stickers from various European capitals, and the near indistinguishable baggage claim tags from defunct airports represent ‘passport stamps’ for each individual suitcase. These stickers do not appear in a definitive order because they were placed without any specific pattern over many years. In fact, the stickers from one generation might obscure the stickers from the previous generation. There is also evidence that one family member’s shipping sticker is placed next to another family member’s sticker. As you put together these palimpsests (a form of writing where one is written over the top of the other), you get a complete, although not traditional, map of the movement and aspirations through the ages from family members and their experiences across time and geography.

The Emotional Legacy: From Practicality to Symbolic Meaning

At first, a suitcase only existed to carry an ancestor’s belongings from one location to another at the end of a journey. To an ancestor, the suitcase contained all of their worldly possessions and represented the burden of all the weight (both physical and emotional) of leaving their country and embarking on a new life filled with hope and uncertainty. It was designed originally to facilitate life transitions.

Over many generations, as the suitcase continued to travel to new destinations and collect more and more life experiences, it took on additional roles beyond just the physical purpose of moving clothing and other items. Instead of being a typical piece of luggage, the suitcase became a record of personal history as an archive of experiences, an object containing sacred objects of life and death, and a symbol of life itself. When a grandchild opens a suitcase today, the smell alone evokes questions. For example, \"Where does this smell come from?\" This simple question opens the door to conversations about family stories about immigration, wars, family reunions, and vacation trips. The suitcase represents the historical anchor of a family’s heritage and fights against time and memories. The suitcase is a representation of perseverance and the unbroken (albeit a bit frayed) relationship to ancestry. It teaches the lesson that everyone is part of a longer journey; therefore, the grandchild and others are part of something larger than themselves, a continuation of a story passed down through generations, tied to the fabric of a stitched canvas or leather suitcase.