Art of the Luggage Label's photostream  

Welcome to my image stream and information resource devoted to the art of luggage labels and related travel ephemera. Luggage labels are fascinating bits of hotel history from the golden age of travel, roughly the 1900's to 1960's. During this time these labels were used by hotels as advertising and eagerly applied to steamer trunks, suitcases and all sorts of luggage by hotel staff, mainly bellhops.

Today, these same labels are highly desirable and sought after by collectors all over the world. Many of the designs were produced by some of the best poster designers from the golden age of travel like Roger Broders, Jan Lavies and Mario Borgoni. Enjoy viewing the labels and also the information and descriptions about them. I have also included links to other articles on the web, many from Joao Mimoso. I would like to thank Joao for sharing his incredible knowledge about these labels, the great articles he has written about them and his help in building this collection. Also, thanks go to Thomas Wangler for allowing me me to use his labels scans of Swiss labels.

For more information about how the collection came to be, read my interview with Marty Weil on his Ephemera Blog.

Marty Weil is a freelance writer and ephemera researcher. He has written more than 250 magazine features on a variety of subjects and I thank Marty for his interest in the collection.

IMPORTANT: Much time and effort goes into scanning and uploading these labels. I ask that if you want to use any of these labels for anything other than personal use, please ask for my permission first! Thanks and enjoy!