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Baggage labels were first supplied by steamship companies to passengers for identification purposes during the 1800s, and hotels, resorts, and railroad companies soon followed suit. In the 1920s, airlines began to offer them to their commercial passengers as well. The baggage labels were a valuable advertising tool for the companies as passengers began to accumulate these often artistic labels on their luggage as travel status symbols.

 Identifier

NASM.XXXX.0146

Creator

Institute of Aeronautical Sciences

Date

bulk 1920-1990

Provenance

Institute of Aeronautical Sciences, Gift, Unknown

Extent

13 Cubic feet ((18 boxes))

Archival Repository

National Air and Space Museum Archives

Scope and Contents

This artificial collection consists of a wide variety of airline timetables, memorabilia, baggage tags, and logos, aircraft company logos, aviation school logos, bumper stickers, and balloon prints. The material covers airlines and aircraft companies from around the world. There are also 1986 - 1987 Air Transport Label Catalogs.

Rights

Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests

Restrictions

No restrictions on access.

Citation

Airline Baggage Label Collection, Accession XXXX-0146, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.

Topics

Aeronautics

Airlines

Luggage

Type

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

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Labels