DID YOU KNOW…
Wheels of Fortune: Your Rolling Luggage Is Younger Than You Think!
Despite seeming like a timeless travel companion, the first patent for wheeled luggage wasn't granted until 1970, meaning travelers struggled with heavy bags for centuries before that simple innovation.
Bernard Sadow, a luggage company executive, received the patent after observing an airline worker effortlessly move heavy equipment on a wheeled dolly. His "Rolling Luggage" design, featuring four casters, was initially marketed primarily to women, who were seen as more burdened by heavy bags. However, it was a Delta Airlines pilot, Robert Plath, who truly popularized the upright "Rollaboard" with an extendable handle in the 1980s, making wheeled luggage ubiquitous, first among airline crews and then the general public.
Love discovering things like this?
A new fact every day with photos, on the free app.
Run a business? This line is for you. Everyone else, read on.
I wrote this page once and it has been working on its own ever since, including tonight while I sleep.
I build the storefront for your business, under your own name, and you see it before you pay anything. If you don't like it, that's the end of it.
Show me my shopBlackstar Digital Studio · Las Palmas de Gran Canaria · Made in Italy 🇮🇹