It’s Women’s History Month and our travelers’ gadgets have come a long way over the years.
March is Women’s History Month and in recognition of it, we’re taking a look at some of the top travel accessories for women throughout the years. While some of these gadgets are quirky and fascinating, others can seem so obscure that they may as well have come from another planet, not just another time.
Today’s hottest travel gadgets have barely any resemblance to the must-haves from decades past.
Keep in mind that the travel accessories for women today often have to do with technology, saving space, and being lightweight. With lightweight suitcases rolling on 360º inline skate wheels, we’ve come a long way from massive heavy steamer trunks. Still, it’s a lot of fun to take a glance back through time to see what women used to carry with them as a kind of standard when they headed away from home on vacation or another type of trip.
Check out the most popular travel accessories for women throughout the last century of so.
• Vanity cases – This fashionable piece of luggage was about the size of a shoebox and came with either a handle or a handbag-like strap. They were clunky and far from light, but they contained everything a woman needed to freshen her face, as well as space for a few added accessories such as gloves, scarves and possibly even a change of undergarments. The main focus, however, was on cosmetics. They usually contained at least two tiers (one of which was divided), and possibly some added storage pockets. Some even contained their own mirror.
• Travelers’ checks – First issued by American Express in 1891, these provided women with a form of globally accepted payment method at a time before credit cards and ATMs. This made it possible for women to pay for their purchases without having to carry mountains of local currency with them.
• Road and city maps – Before GPS and mapping apps, women needed paper maps of cities to get around. These were often huge pieces of paper that were sold using a perfect folding technique to make it easy to access specific parts of the map without unfolding the whole thing. That said, once they were spread out, they were notoriously difficult to fold up in their original condition. Moreover, they required travelers to have much more sense of direction than today’s technology.
• Stationary – Without email and texting and with long distance calls costing a small fortune, women usually brought lovely stationary with them with which they could send letters to everyone back home.
That said, the situation today is much different. The top travel accessories for women consist of fitness trackers, foldable headphones, the right travelers’ apps and high capacity backup battery packs.