Friday, January 1, 2010
11:51 PM
Mod Luggage
In the 60's, wild, colorful patterns began showing up on everything, including luggage. Teens especially loved having the mod styles because carrying a suitcase covered with brightly-colored flowers to a sleepover or camp looked much cooler than carrying the old, boring, stuffy luggage that most parents owned. We did very little traveling and, I was only a preschooler when these first came out so I really had very little need for my own luggage. However, my two cousins, Pat and Rhonda got mod suitcases of their own which they carried with them every time they spent the night with us (which was often) so naturally, I had to have one, too so that I could be a "big girl" like them. lol
How much did cool luggage like that cost, you ask. lol Well, get ready to be really impressed because the price tag was quite steep. Yessiree. Pat, Rhonda, and I got our suitcases at the Dollar General Store for $5 per suitcase! LOL Oh, yes. We were on the cutting edge of all things fashion. We were the group to watch that summer at the family camp outs and I have no doubt that all who saw us carrying our luggage from the cars to our tents were most envious. If you were one of the lucky folks camping up on Lake Eufaula that year, then today is your lucky day. You now know the identity of the fashion celebrities you encountered all those years ago. Come to think of it, I should offer a long-overdue thank you to all of you. We appreciate the way you all resisted the temptation to swarm us. Not one of you asked for a photo or an autograph that summer and I want you to know that we really appreciated it.
*unrelated related (lol): The summer I got this luggage is also the same summer I fell in love with a song that Bernie played over and over that year. It's a song that STILL invokes some of my very favorite, sweetest, most priceless childhood memories.Every time I see the luggage, the song plays through my head.
A few years ago, after having mentioned my affection for that song to Bernie, he surprised me by digging out the actual 45rpm of the song that he used to play back then. It meant/means the world to me. (Thanks SO much, Bernie)