Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-02-09
Fashions In Trunks

AAO LII
PETERSBURG, Va, Feb. g.
Spring bonnets and trunk Innings
may seem have nothing whatever in
common-but ask the trunk maker!
He will tell you that he watches
closely the trend In women's styles
and that he lines his trunks and
bags accordingly.
1t Is not that the trunk manu-
facturer wants to keep up with the
mad pace of fashion. He has NO
| particular desire to buy new lin
ing stocks every few months. But
sad experience has shown that when
a woman selects a trunk h pays
as much attention to the lining as
she does to strength, convenience
and outside appearance.
If blue is the fashionable color
for women'S clothing, trunks with
blue Innings take q sudden leap into
popularity, as FAR as wOmen buyers
| are concerned. The same thing oc-
| ours in the cas- of plain or figured
materials. If coats are being lined
with gayly patterned goods. and
lowered and figured silks are fash
ionable, trunk Innings that simulate
flower gardens and sunsets, consid-
erabIy cQpventionalized, are in high
favor.
A woman selecting a trunk or bag
probably does not pick out a yellow
or nile green lining with any con
| scious thought OF its being fashion,
able. The color in vogue at the mo-
ment merely makes a favorable
| impression upon her wherever It
| appears. This is a trifling bit u
feminine psychology but it can play
an important part in profit and loss
sheets OF the trunk maker who ig-
nores it.
In the case Of Innings. the manu-
facturer is guided by styles in other
Industries. It is harder to foresee
whether the public will like a new
invention for making a trunk more
convenient, and whether it will pre-
fer it's baggage ~unobrusiveiy simple
or decorated with plenty OF a
| trimmings. Most of us never think
of style In connection with trunks,
but the public taste changes, some
times rapidly.
This is just n little known
| phase Of the trunk business. You
can walk miles through the twenty
four buildings here which house the
biggest trunk and bag factory IN
the world, and at every turn a
trunk becomes a more remarkable
object. Apparently trunks and bags
are among the most complex erti-
cles in everyday use, SO Tar az the
making of them is concerned.
A Complicated Job
A plant of this sort is too vast
and the handling OF the 4,2O0 artt-
cles that go into the making Of
trunks and bags Is too complicated
for any Iayman to follow the pro-
cess comfortably. He a only gasp
at the scale on which baggage Is
being turned out for q steadily NOV
ing public and at the variety OF
the machinery and work involved:
Whole rooms are stored with sin-
xIe kinds of material. There are
rooms filed with barrels Of tacks,
buckles and other hardware. ooms
stacked with bolts OF figured lin
inrs rooms stored with heaps o1
skins, and others piled TO the cell
ing with veneer. Still other store
rooms hold nothing but rolls OF
Japanese mating and fbres. 1t is
not for n storage room
20 hold half a million dollars worth
of some one material that goes
Into the making of a modern trunk
The workshops are equally re-
markable. Everywhere you &c
through endless series of rooms
there are workers doing something
THAT the average person would never
associate with his baggage.
In one building men are pendlns
wire into handleshapes To be Gov
cred by leather. Another force Il
sewing on bags. Others are r1Vet'
ing on the brass trimmings put
ting on locks, making bindings
shaping wire frames for SUITCASE
and so on through a long series
of processes.
Innings are cut by an electric cur
ting machine which disposes OF OF
LAYERS of goods at a time. Leatnel
lis cut in q far more painstaklng way
almost every hide has some imper'
, f~ections, and 1t is the work CT al
exrect to cut each one to the Q
} advantage. The top layer OF tn
hide known as the full grain, Is tn,
heaviest and hardest in texture L
wears better than the second an
third cuts, and therefore 1t gos
into the most expensive baggay'
lsmalI pieces Of leather are sent =
L. DIVISION nf the niant wnsfs .