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.

An Authentic Vintager Lesson

There are two types of pieces that can be found in a Leather Vintager’s collection.

1. Personal Vintage- These are well crafted, full grained leather pieces bought new and built to last. They start as the blank canvases of your own journey and, over time, as you carry them or wear them, where ever you go, they become your personalised treasure.
 
2. Secondhand or Historic Vintage- These are second hand bought or inherited leather pieces where someone else has done the job of aging or wearing it in for you. These pieces are filled with the stories and experiences of other people’s journeys, some of them historic which gives them a different kind of value especially if you are familiar with the details.

There is another category of vintage leather which I do not consider an authentic part of a Leather Vintager’s collection and that is artificially aged leather. This is a process where manufacturers inject chemicals and treat the leather to give it that ‘distressed’ look and making it seem ten or twenty years old when in the meantime it just came off the factory floor.

I bought myself one of these bags from a cool brand called Tough. Its a stunning looking bag that immediately got compliments from the time I walked out of the shop with it. I was a little perplexed at first and asked people why they liked the bag so much; I received the same answer: ‘because it looks like you’ve had that bag forever, it has such character!’ The compliments were not that gratifying to me, the bag was not old at all and it’s fake character was created by the manufacturers which to their credit had done an extremely good job, but it was still a lie.

After a year of use the leather on the bag has began to perish, the Vintager gods were clearly not impressed. I was not happy either that this Tough bag was not so tough after all. I took it in for repairs and now a year later it will need to be repaired again, straps are coming apart, the leather is turning to powder in spots and soon I will not be able to use the bag any longer; I am pissed to say the least. I was taken in by the instant gratification of having a beautiful ‘vintage’ bag off the shelf, not realizing that it would have a ridiculously short life span. Its really disappointing to watch something you really like disintegrate right in front of you. Of course I will never buy something like that again, it is not the way of the Vintager; lesson learnt.

The Adventure Begins- First Post

A few years ago I was introduced to the beauty of vintage leather by a close friend  who was buying herself a new leather briefcase. While looking at a particular item she commented on how nice the bag would look after a few years when it had developed character and patina; she seemed to specifically look at bags with an eye to how they would look after time as apposed to just how they looked now. It made the process of owning leather seem like a photograph that would slowly develope over many years of use to find its true beauty.  After buying my first leather bag I too became aware of all the old classic leather pieces around me, leather bags, briefcases, belts, shoes which woke me to a world of classic leather appreciation. 

There is something about well-crafted vintage full grained leather with its rich character, texture and colour acquired over time that makes it a living story book about those who own it.
 
This was the first time the concept really hit me; that a physical item could actually look better after many years of use, having more value aged than new. This was not only a testament to superior craftsmanship, which is extremely rare these days, but that there truly is an art to aging itself. By this I don’t mean the artificial aging in the way leather and denim is treated before you buy it, I mean the real aging that comes through years and years of use. This seemed like such an appropriate life metaphor that true beauty is revealed through aging and living.

In this day and age we put so much value on having the newest things that we so easily discard our possessions after only a few years or  months. Styles and creations nowadays have a built-in disposability and we seem to have lost the true appreciation for the quality and durability.

So this blog is a celebration of all these things that are classic, timeless and built to last, it is about the craftsmanship involved in making them and the interesting stories of the owners for whom they hold great personal value.

Note about this blog
 
1.It is a more of a masculine appreciation for classic full grained leather pieces and the stories behind them, in much the same way a good whiskey or a cigar is enjoyed. Ladies and gents are invited alike.
 
2. This blog is not about erotic leather S&M stories. Anyone with a fetish for black shiny genuine or fake leather is in the wrong place. It’s not that I don’t find black leather outfits sexy but I think there are enough sites about this. 
 
3.The stories will not all be about leather appreciation, it will include vintage denim and all other things that compliment the style and experience of classic goods that are built to age.

Have fun, I know I will.