Searching for a Vintage Leather Mail Bag

I was inspired recently by this picture taken from a magazine posted on the Satorialist blog of an old 1950’s US leather postal/mail bag. I loved the its ruggedness and the way the leather had darkened in different places over the years. This was a real-deal Vintager leather bag, built to work under all conditions and last a lifetime. Its the kind of bag that one could carry everything in and take it with you absolutely everywhere you go.

Here in South Africa, postmen too used to have a these big dark brown indestructible leather bags to deliver mail. Isn't it interesting that at the time those bag were not really considered fashionable or even desirable, it was simply a work bag for what seemed to be back breaking job. I remember seeing postmen always walking bent over forwards to counter balance the weight of the mail they carried while at the same time looking out for unfriendly dogs. It did not seem like an enviable job even though we really appreciated getting our mail on time. I wonder what has happened to those bags. Are they lying in a storeroom somewhere? Have they been destroyed? I have never seen one come up in any of the vintage stores that I regularly visit; I would love to track one down.