Luggage, Memories and Art

Suitcases have been an integral part of my life story. They transport all sorts of things from one place to another and they can be powerful metaphors for journeys. My first memories of such items are of my parents’ 1940s Samsonite brown faux leather hard shell suitcases, most likely a wedding gift or purchased for their honeymoon.

The larger of the two suitcases had a wardrobe frame with hangers and to my recollection it was lined with a patterned fabric. They were very much like the one pictured below.

a typical tan suitcase

The only photograph I have depicting either of these suitcases is a priceless image, part of a well-documented event when my father loaded a pile of furniture on top of the car making it looking like the Clampetts from the Beverly Hillbillies during our yearly family vacation visiting my grandmother. This photo shows what appears to be the larger of the suitcases tipped upended on top of the 1962 blue Buick station wagon.

loaded and ready to roll

For most of my growing up years we would travel every summer 800 miles to visit my dad’s family, with a car full of luggage, kids and dogs. The Clampett episode was a one off when my parents needed furniture for their new house they had moved into a couple months prior. Looking back, I’m assuming that my experience of travelling annually to visit loved ones influenced my choice of subject for a demonstration speech I gave in my high school Spanish class pictured below.

Cómo hacer la maleta

I thought ‘How to pack a suitcase’ would be an entertaining focus for this assignment. The photographer for our yearbook happened to be in the class during my delivery and hence this photo has been permanently etched in the Rouser pages for posterity.

I had no idea how prophetic this activity was at the time and how important the suitcase would become as an invaluable functional and metaphorical object in my future.

I received my first proper set of luggage as a high school graduation present from my mother, two cream coloured hard shell Samsonites. Forty years design advancement from my parents’ set meant that they were lighter, more streamline, had wheels, a pull handle and the casing was polypropylene with an injection moulded shell that had a bit of give – not quite so rigid.

These suitcases served me well over the next 20 years. They were drug back and forth to and from university, taken along on several holidays, accompanied me on my honeymoon, helped me moved across country from Chicago to Seattle. Finally these two workhorses along with 14 other pieces of our family’s luggage (most of the others bought in charity shops for about $1) ended up venturing to the UK bringing clothing, children’s toys, games, art supplies, books and toiletries. After over two decades, those suitcases are sadly now long gone after leading much appreciated useful lives.

Due to the nature of my life, frequently going from one country to another, the suitcase became objectified over the years becoming a symbol of travel and journeys. It was inevitable that it would make its way into my artwork. I have used suitcases, suitcase handles and luggage tags all within my assemblage art. Here are three examples.

The first was a commission representing the life of the Murray family, who enjoyed travelling. I also included other objects representing the family such as the children’s shoes.

Life's Open Book (detail), Assemblage 1999, © Kate Eggleston-Wirtz 

The second example is one of two suitcases that were part of an art installation in the What Would You Do If? Exhibition at Salford Museum in 2006. The installation was a response to working creatively with older people about their of evacuation during WW II. The suitcase pictured below is about a Jewish boy who fled his home in Hockenheim to settle in the North West of England. Included in the artwork were photographs and relevant text. By using objects creatively in this way, it helps to 

bring stories alive.

What Would You Do If? Exhibition (detail) 2006, Salford Museum, © Kate Eggleston-Wirtz 

The third example is a more recent artwork, the Insect Hotel, commissioned by Manchester Museum for my Artist in Residence in 2020 set within the Beauty and the Beasts: falling in love with insects 

exhibition.

The artwork was constructed out of a grandfather clock and was a creative interpretation of an insect hotel. I consulted with others about what would be included in this insect hotel. I received answers 
such as a spa, suitcases and leaves for bedding. One can find a suitcase handle on the top right of the artwork. The artwork is on permanent display on the 3rd floor of the newly refurbished museum.

The Insect Hotel and detail, Assemblage 2020, Manchester Museum, © Kate Eggleston-Wirtz 

I was creatively inspired by the museum’s entomology collection not only to produce the 3-d Insect Hotel but also to produce a collection of poems about different insects and other small creatures with the same title. Here are the first and last poems of the collection:

Welcome

This hotel will make you smile.

Check it out and stay awhile.
Have we got a room for you?
Tiny friends indeed we do.
Tuck in tunnels warm and snug.
Perfect beds for any bug.
Underneath leaf litter - crunch.
Might find something good for lunch.
Time for dinner. Time for tea.
Door is open. Here’s the key.
Come on in - creep or crawling.
Fly in visit - comforts calling.
Call it home - a new frontier.
Be our guest, your home is here.


Letter of Appreciation

Dear Guest,
Thank you little friend for coming,
we truly have been blessed.
You came, checked into our hotel,
you’ve been a perfect guest.

No other visitors were stung
or eaten, thankfully.
We hope that you’ve enjoyed your time
and that you would agree

your bed was cosy, belly fed,
the room kept out the wind and rain;
you felt at home and free from harm.
Please visit us again.

Kind Regards,
Manager and Staff
The Insect Hotel

And finally for a bit of nonsensical fun written this week inspired by the ‘How to Pack a Suitcase’ demonstration speech…

In the Bag

Lug the luggage,
gage the gage.
Lug the lug nut,
page by page.
Bag the baggage,
throw in stuff.
Stuff the suitcase,
that’s enough!

Thank you for reading!
Kate J

Sources
Samsonite, 2024.Samsonite Our History. https://www.samsonite.co.uk/history/ Accessed 28 March.
Travel and Leisure, 2022. The Evolution of Luggage: A Timeline. https://www.travelandleisure.com/style/evolution-of-luggage Accessed 28 March, 2024.