Luggage tags are very popular with collectors. Under glass, or glued to old trunks, the labels make very pretty decorations.
Most often kept by travelers as a souvenir of their trip, they can be dated.
" groom by Louis Vuitton"
advertisement for Louis Vuitton travel goods
Date: 1921
Their popularity owes everything to the Americans and the English who pride themselves on showing off their trunks, all colored with the labels of the hotels they have passed, on their return from their trip .
From this iconography oscillating between naive chromos and statutory trophy, the hotel world had drawn a specific and universal coded language, allowing all the doormen, porters, porters, bellboys, concierges, cameramen of the palaces of the planet to gauge, at the first glance. eye on the luggage, the profile of its owner.
These are real hotel labels stuck on for hidden flaws.
Practice more and more used by merchants.
The labels are rare and rarely in good condition, when the label is still on the trunk, the colors are dull because they are made of unvarnished paper and glued to gum arabic (reversible water-based glue like postage stamps ).
They are mainly found on the sides of the trunks.
Read our guide to buying a luxury trunk to discover all the practices that do not respect the rules of the art.
Example of a non-original label
Etiquette hotel : French page