Satchel

Men carrying satchels.
Men carrying satchels.

A satchel is a bag, often with a strap.[1] The strap is often worn so that it diagonally crosses the body, with the bag hanging on the opposite hip, rather than hanging directly down from the shoulder. They are traditionally used for carrying books.[2] The back of a satchel extends to form a flap that folds over to cover the top and fastens in the front. Unlike a briefcase, a satchel is soft-sided.

History

Roman legionaries carried a satchel (a loculus).

A carriel is "a small leather satchel from Colombia with a long history dating back 400 years".[3]

A photo from the Bain News Service shows Camille Saint-Saëns carrying a satchel in the United States in 1915.[4]

Letter carriers in many countries carry a mail satchel.[5]

School bag

Children carrying leather and cowhide satchels

The traditional Oxford and Cambridge style satchel is a simple design that features a simple pouch with a front flap. Variations include designs with a single or double pocket on the front and sometimes a handle on the top of the bag. The classic school bag satchel often had two straps, so that it could be worn like a backpack, with the design having the straps coming in a V from the centre of the back of the bag, rather than separate straps on each side. This style is sometimes called a satchel backpack.

A cover illustration from The Queenslander Illustrated Weekly on January 31, 1929 shows a school bag taunting a schoolboy.[6]

There is an example of a schoolboy's satchel in the collection of London's Victoria and Albert Museum.[7]

The school satchel is described as "the bag of choice for 1950s children".[8]

A 1959 photo shows schoolgirls with satchels (schooltassen) in the Netherlands.[9]

The use of school bag satchels is common in the United Kingdom, Australia, Western Europe and Japan. In Japan the term for a school bag satchel is randoseru. The Unicode for the school satchel Emoji is U+1F392.[10]

In cases where the school bag is a hard-sided box, it is a briefcase rather than a satchel.

In fashion

Much of the popularity of the satchel as a fashion accessory since 2008 is driven by the Cambridge Satchel Company, whose product was on a Guardian gift guide in 2009, and was described as a cross-body bag in a 2010 article.[11][12][13][14]

In literature, the satchel is often associated with the classic image of the English schoolboy: "And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel" is a phrase from Shakespeare's monologue All the world's a stage.

In Mark Twain's 1869 travel book The Innocents Abroad he reports that upon arriving in France in 1867, "With winning French politeness the officers merely opened and closed our satchels".

In the Little House on the Prairie novel By the Shores of Silver Lake, the Ingalls family carries two satchels on their train ride west.

Indiana Jones always carries a satchel as part of his outfit, alongside his whip and hat (the prop used in the movies was a 1943 Mark VII gas mask bag).[15]

The satchel is referenced in the movie The Hangover, where the character Alan Garner says "it's not a man purse, it's called a satchel. Indiana Jones wears one."[16] The bag he was actually carrying was a Roots Village Bag.[17] Following the attention due to the movie, Roots released a larger bag, called simply The Satchel, however the design of both the Village Bag and The Satchel are not the same as the traditional satchel.

The satchel is indirectly referenced in the nod to both Indiana Jones and The Hangover in the movie Guardians of the Galaxy, where the character Peter Quill says "It's not a purse, it's a knapsack."

In Shaun the Sheep Movie the eponymous sheep has a satchel with a Blue Peter badge on it.[18]

In Kiki's Delivery Service, Kiki carries a satchel when she leaves home.

In My Neighbor Totoro, Satsuki Kusakabe, her friend Michiko and other school children can be seen wearing satchel backpacks as they go to school.

In season 3 of Glee, Blaine Anderson carried a buckle-detail satchel.[19]

In The Big Bang Theory, Dr. Sheldon Cooper is seen carrying a brown satchel (reported to be a distressed-canvas Goorin Brothers bag).[20]

In Stargate SG-1 season 8, Dr. Elizabeth Weir is seen with a satchel behind her desk and later on her desk, in the two-part episode "New Order".

In The Captive Prince by Scott Chantler, Topper says "I think I'm going to need a bigger satchel."

Jack Bauer, in 24, is often seen carrying a satchel.

Television presenter Monty Don often carries a satchel when touring gardens.

In the BBC Two television series Mary Beard's Ultimate Rome: Empire Without Limit, presenter Mary Beard is seen carrying a satchel while visiting various ancient locations.

In their song "Jennifer Eccles", The Hollies sing about "carrying her satchel".

In the Disney film Tangled the satchel carrying Rapunzel's stolen crown is carried by Flynn Rider, a central character in the story.

Ford Prefect carries his gear in a satchel in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

See also

References

  1. Satchel, merriam-webster.com, Accessed 28 October 2009
  2. Satchel, thefreedictionary.com, Accessed 28 October 2009
  3. Amay, Joane (16 January 2013). "Current Obsession: The Carriel Bag". Lucky magazine. Retrieved 28 Feb 2015.
  4. Wikimedia Commons - File:Camille Saint Saëns - George Grantham Bain Collection.png also on Flickr and at the Library of Congress - ggbain 19050 / LC-DIG-ggbain-19050
  5. Heidelbaugh, Lynn (April 29, 2006). "Satchel for letter carriers". National Postal Museum, Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
  6. Flickr - State Library of Queensland - Illustrated front cover from The Queenslander, January 31, 1929
  7. satchel - MISC.541-1992 - V&A
  8. Williams, Sally (6 July 2009). "How magic of Harry Potter is creating a fashion for stylish satchels". WalesOnline. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  9. Flickr - Nationaal Archief / Spaarnestad Photo / W.P.W. van de Hoef, SFA003001968
  10. "School Satchel Emoji". Retrieved April 25, 2015.
  11. "Christmas gift guide 2009: Men's accessories". The Guardian. 27 November 2009. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
  12. Cartner-Morley, Jess (24 April 2010). "How to dress: Cross-body bags". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  13. Lukas, Erin (23 December 2011). "The story behind the explosion of the Cambridge Satchels". Fashion Magazine. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  14. Williams-Grut, Oscar (23 January 2014). "Moneybags: humble British satchel conquers the world". The Independent. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  15. "TheRaider.net - Research - Indy's Gear - The Shoulder Bag". Archived from the original on 5 Feb 2015. Retrieved 28 Feb 2015.
  16. Memorable Quotes from The Hangover, IMDB.com, Accessed October 29, 2009
  17. "Village Bag on the Silver Screen". 14 Aug 2009. Archived from the original on 27 Jun 2010. Retrieved 28 Feb 2015.
  18. Doran, Sarah (14 Feb 2015). "Fascinating behind the scenes facts from Shaun The Sheep The Movie". Retrieved 23 Aug 2015.
  19. Williams, Nakisha (13 September 2012). "Style Hunter: Must-Have Messenger Bags". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 12 May 2014. Retrieved 28 Feb 2015.
  20. Williams, Nakisha (13 September 2012). "Style Hunter: Must-Have Messenger Bags". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 12 May 2014. Retrieved 28 Feb 2015.
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