A luggage label, luggage sticker, baggage sticker or baggage label is an adhesive label placed over a traveler's
luggage
Baggage, or luggage, consists of bags, cases, and containers which hold a traveler's personal articles while the traveler is in transport, transit. A modern tourist, traveler can be expected to have packages containing clothing, toiletries, sma ...
for identification purposes.
Usually issued by hotels, restaurants, railways and cruise companies, they became popular between the mid-19th century and the early 20th century, in the so-called Golden Age of Travel, with the popularization of mass tourism and the development of railroads, ocean liners and eventually of air travel.
Aside their utilitary purpose, luggage labels were also a form of advertisement, sporting elaborate designs;
after the latter half of the 20th century, their use dwindled, becoming vintage collection items since then.
Forerunner
The Romans used baggage labels made from
lead
Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...
.
See also
*
Bag tag
Bag tags, also known as baggage tags, baggage checks or luggage tickets, have traditionally been used by bus, train, and airline carriers to route checked luggage to its final destination. The passenger stub is typically handed to the passenger ...
s
References
{{Commons category, Hotel baggage labels
External links
Tom Schifanella's luggage label collection
Ephemera
Labels
Tourism
Luggage