And its not hard to see why. Theophilus Hokkanen filed the first patent for a suitcase with wheels in 1921.

The History Of The Humble Suitcase History Smithsonian Magazine

Then consumers with luggage envy started asking the pilots where they got their bags.

When were suitcases invented. The average suitcase of the age was made of thick oil-treated cowhide stretched over a stout wooden frame. Though not completely free of problems such as tipping and wobbling these. But it was a true innovation as the advertisement below shows.

In 1989 Plath moved the company out of his garage and into a 185000-square-foot warehouse. International Tourists Touristers. According to this Wikipedia entry about D.

Rugged and well built antique suitcases had to withstand years of use on unpaved roads often exposed to inclement weather. A device that would fit onto any bag for carriage. What about Bernard Sadow.

3653474 for the Rolling Luggage. By the 19th century the modern suitcase was finally taking its familiar form. Vintage luggage is making a comeback.

Boxes trunks and early suitcases featured intricate details brass finishings and hardware leather and fine upholstery and. However the first commercial suitcase with wheels was the Portable Porter Rol-y-case launched in the UK in 1963. Today Travelpro has nearly 45 million in annual sales industry executives estimate.

But wait a minute. In 1991 he stopped flying. And hes never looked back.

Can you imagine that it took close to six thousand years between the invention of the wheel by we assume the Mesopotamians and this brilliant implementation by some luggage maker in. The modern suitcase took shape in the 19th century usually made of thick cowhide. There are 2 patents for built-in wheeled luggage.

The Rollaboard was invented in 1987 by Robert Plath a Northwest Airlines 747 pilot and avid home workshop tinkerer who affixed two wheels and a long handle to suitcases that rolled upright. Dudley Bloom the man who invented the first magic milk bottle for dolls a truly wonderful invention also came up with the idea of luggage built on wheels. Bernard Sadows design for the US Luggage Corp for a suitcase with four castors went on sale in the USA in 1970.

From October of 1970 onward Sadows wheeled luggage were on sale at Macys and soon became quite popular worldwide. Otzi the Iceman a prehistoric man whose mummified remains were discovered on the border between Italy and Austria carried with him a wood-ribbed backpack that supported a leather bag. The first patent for wheels on luggage in 1972 was a small evolution of the standard suitcase design.

The luggage was shaped the same and would stand the same but now with wheels and a strap to drag it. Vintage luggage from the 19th century was often crafted with the best materials and designed to withstand the harsh conditions of early modes of travel. This device invented in India over 2500 years ago was used to spin thread from natural fibers such as cotton flax and wool.

I remember this style from my childhood and it was horribly unstable. By the time of the Roman Empire Roman citizens enjoyed tourism using what may be considered the earliest suitcases. One was for Bob Plaths design of the rollaboard that is the Travelpro mainstay the other was for Bernard Sadows invention in the 1970s for built in wheels that were pulled using a leash.

After reviewing the patent you referenced it was for a luggage carriage. A man called Bernard Sadow is traditionally recognised by the media as being the inventor of the first wheeled suitcase on sale from the early 1970s while Robert Plath then an airline pilot. Government for a patent on his new innovation and was granted one in 1972 earning him the United States patent No.

In 1970 Sadow applied to the US. The spinning wheel was eventually replaced by the spinning jenny and the spinning frame more sophisticated devices that also incorporate wheels. Bob Plath a Northwest Airlines pilot who started the Travelpro company claimed he invented the first rolling luggage as well.

Travelpros first-year sales were about 15 million Plath estimates.