bagophily

Romancing the barf bag

2011-12-04T13:51:00.001+01:00

US writer Robert Glick on his barfbag collection: "My background in the arts reminded me of artists like Piero Manzoni, who canned and sold their excrement. It seemed like a natural process to turn something designed to hold the abject into a collection, a type of documentation, an art project."
With around 100 bags, Mr Glick comes in at the number-60 spot in bagophily.com's ranking of collections.

Guinness 2011 re-anoints Vermeulen

2010-10-12T22:20:00.003+02:00

Click on picture to enlarge

For the 25th time, Guinness World Records has anointed Dutch baggist Niek Vermeulen as holder of the world's largest collection of barfbags.
A row in a table of "classic collections" on page 142 of the 2011 edition of the Guinness annual tome lists Niek as owner of 6,016 bags. That figure was verified back in January 2010, so presumably it has now swollen further.
Niek has now bumped rival Hamburg-based baggist Oliver Conradi from the top spot in bagophily.com's bagometer.
The web version of the Guinness records still has Niek's old total of 5,469 bags, along with a must-see shot of the Man Himself reposing on a bed of bags.
Clearly eager to maintain his exalted position on top of the pile, Niek exhorts other collectors to include only "optically different" bags bearing an airline logo or name in their bagometer counts.
Niek's numbers pale in comparison to the 9,638 bells, 13,627 coffee pots, and 103,009 bookmarks amassed by other kleptomaniacs. Anyone with any idea of how to count over 100,000 bookmarks, please let me know.

This blog has moved

2010-05-01T14:53:00.001+02:00

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Bagophily.com to die?

2010-04-22T10:02:00.002+02:00

For those devotees who feared that Bagophily.com might already be dead, the answer is "not yet".

Indeed, I have had little time to dedicate to baggy things recently. Blame a hectic travel schedule, a backlog of work, screaming clients, and a new house and garden.

But now comes a more serious threat: Google has announced that for Blogger, "FTP publishing will no longer be available after May 1, 2010".

Translated into language that the average baggist may just understand, that means that I'm going to have to move this blog to another server. That will undoubtedly mess up all the careful design I've devoted so much sweat and care to over the years. And if things go awry, this blog may disappear forever into the depths.

If I do manage to make the switch, Bagophily.com will come back bigger, brighter and better than ever before. Once I've got a break from travelling, worked off the backlog, assuaged my clients, and got house and garden in order. I promise.

Ordner sind brechend voll

2010-04-22T09:49:00.002+02:00

"Folders are full to bursting", but that misses the pun in German: "brechend" can mean both "bursting" and "vomiting".

The Wormser Zeitung, a local newspaper in Worms, Germany, carried this article about Gerd Clemens and his bag habit on 31 March 2010.

The accompanying photo has a beaming Gerd with the usual photogenic bags: Finnaviation's barfing reindeer, TUI's bright yellow "Take it with a smile", and a selection of the Virgin Atlantic Limited Edition series.

As a result of the article, the media pack descended on the Clemens household: Gerd says that SWR, a TV channel, carried a story about him in its local news programme on 21 April.

"Wormser Zeitung"? Schoolboys will perhaps recall another reason to remember Worms, Gerd's hometown: the entertainingly named Diet of Worms, held in 1521, in which Holy Roman Empire worthies quizzed Martin Luther.

Who said you couldn't learn anything as a bag collector?

Click here for the original Wormser Zeitung article, or here for a PDF version. Bagophily.com recommends Google Translate for those whose German is not up to par.

See you at the show?

2010-04-20T21:36:00.001+02:00

If you are the sort of person who wants to travel hundreds of kilometres to a dingy warehouse in order to queue up in front of tables loaded with shoeboxes full of tatty, used barfbags, then this list of airline collectibles shows is for you.

Thanks to Dutch baggist Niek Vermeulen, who has been known to haunt such events, for this info. He can be easily spotted at the shows: he's the one wearing a yellow "Barfbags Wanted" baseball cap, haggling with vendors in the shadows.

Barfing stock

2010-04-20T19:55:00.003+02:00

Singapore collector Chen Ying Hao is featured in a half page in the 17 April issue of the Straits Times.

This insightful article details some of Yinghao's collecting tricks, including the shameful practice of pretending to be ill while aloft.

On the same page is an advertisement trumpeting "sensuality in the bathroom". Click on the image on the left for more.

Visit Yinghao's collection at http://airsicknessbags.sg/

Thanks to Straits Times journalist Nicholas Yong for this item.

Bruce joins the 5000 club

2009-12-08T09:50:00.000+01:00

Alaskan baggist Bruce Kelly tells me that he has crossed the 5000-bag threshold. "Not nearly enough to challenge the top 2", he laments. But he's off to Mexico to forage for fresh items, so expect his total to rise soon.

Oliver has 5792

2009-11-22T21:06:00.009+01:00

Hamburg collector Oliver Conradi has gone public with his bagnumbers - in the German tabloid newspaper Bild.

Oliver featured in a story about Hamburg airport, along with brusque credit-card promoters and hidden railway signage.

Oliver's most recent bagnumbers? 5792 bags from 1399 airlines, collected over 30 years. According to Bild, That's more than Niek Vermeulen, the current Guinness record holder.

Oliver is now 45, says the Bild journalist. A bit of mental arithmetic tells us that he must have started collecting bags at the impressionable age of 15.

If you have teenage children, perhaps it's time to warn them now about the dangers of baggery.

That is, if you don't want to learn of their exploits from the inside pages of a sensationalist tabloid rag.

Barfbags for beer

2009-11-22T20:23:00.006+01:00

This Times newspaper article says that Kirin (a Japanese brewer) is using bags to advertise its alcohol-free beer to sloshed salarymen riding home in taxis after their nightly male-bonding binges.

An advertising venture doomed to fail, I predict. If the said salaryman is sloshed enough to use one of Kirin’s bags, he is unlikely to remember the message it carries the following morning.

Nice try, Kirin. But perhaps advertising express flower-delivery services to appease irate spouses would be a better use of scarce bagspace?

Thanks to Steve Silberberg for this alert.

Yet another use for unwanted bags

2009-06-04T12:56:00.003+02:00

Did Boeing forget to install a video screen in the back of the seat in front of you?

Fret no more: all you need do is bring your iPod and a spare plain white bag on board with you. Cut a screen-size hole in the bag, and a small in the side for the earphone cable, and presto - your own personal inflight entertainment system.

You may need to pre-cut the holes in order to avoid risking your penknife being confiscated by security at check-in.

This image is from gadling.com.

discover | map | navigate | puke

2009-06-04T12:34:00.002+02:00

"Airsickness Bags Make Unusual Collections", says this Rand McNally blog.

Not news for the majority of baggists, but perhaps an eye-opener for the uninitiated non-bagging public.

The blog goes on to laud Bruce Kelly's collection, and to reveal that he is about to pass the psychologically important 5,000 mark. Other collections featured include those of Steve Silberberg, Rune Tapper, Alan Howlett, as well as bagophily.com.

Thanks to Steve for this alert.

Vote early, vote often

2009-04-24T10:32:00.003+02:00

Want to know what your fellow baggists think? Want to know if they think at all?

Then set up a poll on the barfbags egroup.

The egroup site, hosted by Yahoogroups, has a plethora of little-known bells and whistles. Members can set up polls, upload photos, add links, create databases, set up a calendar, and lots of other goodies.

Click here to visit the site and play with these toys.

One member has recently started a poll asking whether members want to receive automatic replies to email postings to the group.

Yahoo's sophisticated polling software automatically calculates percentages and displays a bar chart - like the one on the left, which confirms that 6 votes out of 10 equals 60%.

Proving that to be a member of the prestigious baggist coterie, an ability to think (or at least, the ability to do simple maths) is not a requirement.

Grizzled old baggist

2009-03-16T16:41:00.002+01:00

Publicity-shy though I am, bagophily.com has been featured in the prestigious "Grizzled Old Traveler" blog run by travel writer Sean McLachlan.

The motto of this blog is "Because the adventure doesn't stop after thirty".

That should presumably read "...at thirty thousand feet". After all, that altitude is safely above most hurl-inducing turbulence, so it's safe to move around the cabin to steal bags from other passengers' seat pockets. Make sure they're asleep before you try this, though.

The Clemens eBay report for 2nd Quarter 2008

2008-11-10T21:11:00.008+01:00

A new record for a barfbag - €633.62 for a single bag. A generic one at that - proving that airlines do not have to print logos on their bags for them to be valued by their customers.

Alas for the airline, though - its name is not recorded for posterity. It was not a mere company name that made this bag go for such an astronomical sum. No, the bag was autographed by legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix.

So a celeb-defaced overpriced bag hit the jackpot on bagmarket watcher Gerd Clemens' eBay listing. Here's his complete list of auctions exceeding EUR 20 for the second quarter of 2008 (with minor additions from last week of first quarter).

Rank, Airline, Country, Price, Notes

Generic, USA, €633.62, With Jimi Hendrix signature

SAE Regional Airlines, Mali, €107.31

Aeropesca, Colombia, €104.00

SAHSA, Honduras, €97.60

UTA, France, €82.93

Lan Chile, Chile, €79.21

AVIATECA, Guatemala, €79.00

LAN, Chile, €66.83

Safi Airways, Afghanistan, €65.77

Russavia Ltd., UK, €65.03

Safi Airways, Afghanistan, €65.00, Direct Sale

LOT old, Poland, €56.85

Jeju Air, Korea, €47.23

Jeju Air, Korea, €46.73, Direct Sale

Jet Star, Australia, €46.65

Jet Star, Australia, €45.90

P.L.L. Lot Air, Poland, €45.70

Safi Airways, Afghanistan, €45.00, Direct Sale

Air Bagan, Burma, €42.73

Jet Star, Australia, €39.40

Island Aviation, Maldives, €39.34

Aero Condor, Peru, €39.25

VIVA Macau, Macau, €39.17

MEA, Lebanon, €38.18

VIVA Macau, China, €36.40

Pluna # 1, Uruguay, €35.50

Pluna # 1, Uruguay, €35.00, Direct Sale

GMG, Bangladesh, €34.50

Kam Air, Afghanistan, €34.19

TAE Trabajos Aereos, Spain, €33.80

Andes Lineas Aereas, Argentina, €33.60

Kam Air, Afghanistan, €33.50, Direct Sale

Seven Air, Tunisia, €33.48

Andes Lineas Aereas, Argentina, €33.10, Direct Sale

Moscow Air, Russia, €33.00

VIVA Macau,China , €32.55

Skynet Asia Airways, Japan, €32.50

Clickair, Spain, €32.47

Linus Airways, Indonesia, €32.30

VIVA Macau, China, €32.10

Moscow Air, Russia, €32.00, Direct Sale

LADE, Argentina, €31.70

Lucky Air, China, €31.34

Air Bagan, Burma, €29.60, Direct Sale

VIVA Macau, China, €29.50, Direct Sale

Freedom Airways, Cyprus, €29.23

GMG, Bangladesh, €29.00

Starflyer, Japan, €29.00

Air Bagan, Burma, €28.70

Air Bagan, Burma, €28.70

United Company, China, €28.50

Air India, India, €28.50

Air India, India, €28.00

Yeti Airways, Nepal, €27.62

Aero Republica, Colombia, €26.60

BEA British European, UK, €26.50

Far Eastern Air Transport, Taiwan, €26.38

Linus Airways, Indonesia, €26.38

Clickair, Spain, €26.30

Aero Republica, Colombia, €26.10, Direct Sale

Airsur, Spain, €26.00

ORC, Japan, €25.50

Pluna # 1, Uruguay, €24.23

Air Sul, Spain, €23.93

BEA, UK, €23.75

Siem Reap, Cambodia, €22.79

Seven Air, Tunisia, €22.53

Dniproavia, Ukraine, €22.50

Avior Airlines, Venezuela, €22.17

Aero Republica, Colombia, €22.00, Direct Sale

Air New Zealand, New Zealand, €21.75

Mandala, Indonesia, €21.60

Pluna # 2, Uruguay, €21.60

Air India, India, €21.50

Siem Reap, Cambodia, €20.81

Air Dolomiti, Italy, €20.60

Far Eastern Air Transport, Taiwan, €20.50, Direct Sale

Zoom Airlines, Canada, €20.50

Presidential Airways, USA, 20.26

Pluna # 1, Uruguay, €20.10, Direct Sale

VIVA Macau, China, €20.00

Another worthless reality TV show?

2008-09-26T19:59:00.003+02:00

Get served by Michelle Marsh (above), and you could pick up the bag below.

But at least this one has its own barfbags, says Danish-based baggist Homer Goetz.

"CelebAir is a reality TV series, which sees 11 celebrities doing the jobs of cabin crew and check-in attendants", says Homer.

"The tv-company subchartered an Airbus A321 from Monarch Airlines, registration G-OZBI, which has been repainted in CelebAir colours.

"The series is set in Gatwick Airport. There are seven destinations that CelebAir will fly to: Tenerife South Airport, Faro Airport (Portugal), Málaga Airport, Ibiza Airport, Mahon Airport, Larnaca International Airport and Alicante Airport.

"Before any of the celebrities were allowed to start their new jobs, they undertook a rigorous six-week training programme run by Monarch, the airline involved in the show, and were required to adhere to Monarch’s standards whilst working for CelebAir.

"The series began on 2 September 2008 on ITV2."

If you want to be served by a C-list British celebrity that you've never heard of, book a CelebAir flight by clicking on the link above. You will be assured of Monarch's usual classy service, and while you're on board, be sure to pick up one of their special barfbags. Better still, grab a handful and send one to me.

Thanks to Homer for this item.

Bag 2.0

2008-09-26T15:05:00.003+02:00

Bagging has taken the next step forward by embracing Web 2.0 technology.

French baggiste Gilles Beger has founded a Facebook group, the Airsickness Bags Appreciation Society.

"The ASBAS pomotes [sic] the use and circulation of Air Sickness bags worldwide. This group is dedicated to those collecting air sickness bags..." says the introductory blurb.

The group is open to all, so we can predict it will attract all kinds of weirdo baggists.

Click on the link above to sign up.

Broken something?

2008-09-26T14:52:00.002+02:00

Germany continues to lead the way with bag humour. The cartoon by Uli Stein on the left appeared in the veterinary journal VetImpulse in September 2008.

"On the phone you said you had broken something?" asks the doctor. "I don't see anything?"

"I've brought it with me..." says the patient, reaching into her handbag and pulling out a full barfbag.

For those needing to attend remedial German classes, this draws on the double meaning of the word "gebrochen" in German: it means both "broken" and "thrown up".

Click on the picture for a closer look.

Get your own virtual bag

2008-09-11T16:34:00.003+02:00

You can now introduce all your non-baggist friends to the joys of bag collecting by giving them a free virtual bag on Facebook.

The social networking site has 250,000 of these bags available. Designed by the Travel Channel, they feature a big Travel Channel T logo and the informative text "BARF BAG".

These must be among the smallest bags ever offered outside of Indonesia, though: scarcely big enough for one portion of your avatar's emesis.

Got more virtual puke to dispose of? Then sign on to Facebook and send multiple virtual bags to the baggist of your choice. Desperate? You can even give a bag to yourself (like I did).

Thanks to Steve Silberberg for this alert.

Need bags? Get pregnant

2008-08-27T08:22:00.005+02:00

Want to look chic while you throw up? Easy - all you have to do is to get pregnant, then find someone to order some of these Morning Chicness Bags for you.

"Morning Chicness Bags are excellent gifts for your pregnant friend or wife", says the vendor's site, www.morningchicnessbags.com. "Help her make this difficult time a little easier for her. She will love this thoughtful and unique gift."

Morning Chicness Bags are "convenient, disposable, affordable and yet stylish", says this review. We might add that they also make excellent gifts for your unpregnant baggist friends. Have pity on baggists - the vast majority of them are male, so have few chances of experiencing the joys of Hyperemesis Gravidarum, or receiving these delectable items from sympathetic acquaintances. Perhaps they could simulate pregnancy by stuffing a few of their spare bags under their pullovers?

Morning Chicness Bags come in six feminine pastel designs: Lavender Lulu, Tickled Pink, Baby Bubbles, Bambooboo, Labor of Love, and Rosebuddies. This last design carries the text "Live, Laugh, Love". Shouldn't that be "Spew, Barf, Heave"?

A pack of ten bags will cost you a mere $7.50. Unfortunately it's possible to order only one type of design at a time, so you have to buy 6 packs of 10 to get a full set. That will cost you $45. Feel free to donate your unwanted extras to me for my Biman Bangladesh Appeal.

Thanks to Gilles Beger for this alert.

Get ready for an expensive October

2008-08-25T10:17:00.002+02:00

You're going to use up an awful lot of your frequent flyer miles if you want to hunt for bags at all October's airline collectible shows.

According to veteran showgoer Niek Vermeulen, no less than five North American shows open their doors between 4 and 25 October: in Minneapolis, Toronto, Seattle, Atlanta and Houston. You have a problem on 18 October, though, as the shows in Atlanta and Brussels take place on the same day.

A tip from bagophily.com: find out whether Niek will be at Atlanta or Brussels, then go to the other show. You'll have more chance of picking up a bargain bag if you don't have to compete with him.

Thanks to Niek for these dates. See the Shows page for more details.

The Clemens eBay report for 1st Quarter 2008

2008-08-17T20:14:00.007+02:00

"Compared to last quarter of 2007, the year 2008 has started with a far higher number of auctions at Ebay which exceeded the barrier of €20", writes our Senior Markets Correspondent Gerd Clemens.

"Winner in this quarter is a bag from the Namibian Charter Flight – Skeleton Coast at a price of €87.40.

Runner up is a bag from the first low cost carrier Laker from UK which is dated with 1976. The extraordinary thing is this bag can also be used to send films for processing which makes this bag very rare. Final bid was made at €79.10.

In course of this quarter a plastic bag from TWA which was offered in their 1st class was on sale very often. At the beginning price came up to €70, but at the end even at prices of €2 could not find a buyer.

On rank #4 we find a very interesting German specimen which is more than just an airsickness bag. It is an airmail letter from 1925 with all the stamps but as envelope an airsickness bag was used. On this bag a small poem is printed and for some of you which want to improve their German here the text:

O, brich die Knospe nicht in ihrem Jugendtraum,
Erbrich von fremdem Brief das Siegel nicht,
Erbrich dich selber nicht in diesem Raum,
Brich in die Tüte, sie ist stark und dicht!

(Unauthorized bagophily.com translation:

Oh, break no blossoms in your youthful gloom
Break open no other's letter - 'tis wrong,
Break not yourself in this room,
But break in the bag, it is tight and strong!)

I guess that this poem would have had good chances to win the poem contest which was organized by Paul some years ago. Finally the auction was won from a member of our group against strong competitors which were philatelists at a price of €62.00.

Now Andemar is an Argentinean first class bus service which operates with the slogan “the best way to know Argentina”. About 15 years ago Andemar operated also as airline which flew over the Andes. Price for this bag came up to €61.64 and as direct sale to €60.30.

Not much to our surprise Republic of China (Taiwan) has a national air force. But a bag from this organisation is very rarely seen. So price went up to €60.65.

Bolivia operates an airline called TAM which stands for Transporte Aereo Militar Boliviano. It was founded in 1946 and operates on domestic flights. Price for this bag was €51 and in a further auction price came up to €23.60, which is rank #37.

A bag from the Israeli an carrier EL AL from the 1970s came in at #9 at a price of €50.93.

TAN Transportes Aereos Neuquen is another Argentinean airline which operates from the region Neuquen. As this is a very unusual air sickness bag price was €50.74.

United Eagles Airlines is a privately owned Chinese airline based in Chengdu, Sichuan. It operates domestic passenger services and was established in 2004. Price of this bag was €50.55.

Another privately owned Chinese airline is East Star Airline which operates from Wuhan, Hubai. They started operation in May 2006. Final bid was made at €47.60.
For a bag with another design €40.50 were paid which is rank #19.

The Korean airline Jeju Air connects Seoul and Busan with the small honeymoon island Jeju. From time to time a bag from this carrier is on sale. This quarter their bag reached rank #13 at a price of €47.23.

And again a bag from Argentina, Andes, an airline which offers regional services as well as charter flights since June 2006. They are based in Salta connecting this city with Buenos Aires. Price for this bag was €46.59.

China Express Airlines was established in May 2006. Based in Guiyang they operate with 2 Bombardiers. The price was €46.55.

Belavia is the national airline of the Republic of Belarus. Main base is Minsk the capitol of Belarus. Price came up to €45.52.

VIM is an Russian airline based in Moscow, which was established in 2000. Later they acquired Chitavia, Aeobratsk and Russian Sky Airlines, which made them very strong in the charter flight business. Just recently they bought 12 Boeing 757. Price for their bag came in at €45.50.

At rank 18 we find a bag from the African carrier Air Malawi at a price of €44.84.

China West Air is a start up airline based in Chongqing. It was established in March 2006 by Hainan Airlines and operates domestic flights. Price was €35.61.

On rank 21 we find Santa Barbara Airlines which is based in Venezuela at a price of €34.78, moreover on the ranks 26 to 29 in direct sales at a price of €32.36 and in an another auction at prices of €25.01 and €23.87.

A bag from Kenya Airways issued mid of the 1970s was bought at €34.55.

Chosonminhang is the former name of the North Korean carrier Air Koryo. The bag came in as #23 at a price of €37.04.

Air Cairo is from Egypt. According to the name this charter and low cost carrier is based in Cairo. Operation started in 1997. In 2005 Egypt Air acquired 40% of their shares and operation was transferred to a new company: Cairo Aviation. Later Air Cairo was re-positioned as a new low cost carrier which belongs to Egypt Air. Price came up to €35.50, which is rank #25 and in another auction at €24.60.

With a bag from 1976 British Midland came in at a price of €32.07 which is rank #30.

A defunct Indian airline is NECP. For a bag from this airline €31.03 was paid.

China Southwest was an airline which had their headquarters in Chengdu, Sichuan. In 2002 China Southwest was merged into Air China. Bag offered was a very nice one as it shows a panda bear carrying the logo. Price for this scarce bag was €30.60.

Next bag comes from Spain. It is an original red TAE bag with a white Hispania sticker. Hispania was founded in 1982 for charter flights from Germany, UK and France to Spain. In July 1989 when liabilities were more than their assets Hispania was forced to chease operation. Price of this special bag came up to €27.47.

A paper bag with a smiley and the words “Have a happy day” was sold at €26.45.

Siem Reap Airways, wholly owned by Bangkok Airways, started operation in Nov 2000. It is based in Phnom Penk Cambodia. A severe fight started for their bags with a totally new design. In the first auction price came up to €26.38, which is rank #35, another auction was finalized at €21.04. But within short when more and more of these bags were offered a strong price erosion took place. Now you get this bag for some euros.

Far Eastern Air Transport is based in the Republic of China. A bag with a new design was sold at €26.38.

An older bag in light green from MAS Malaysian Airlines, offered together with some safety cards was sold at €23.00, which is rank #41.

Oasis Hong Kong is an airline with a very short time of operation. Founded just about 2 years ago they made a lot of noises by offering very low prices for flights between Hong Kong and London. But it seems that calculation was not made carefully enough as they were forced to cease operation because of financial problems on the 9th of April.
One of their last bags with a new design was sold at €22.99.

SAETA means Sociedad Anonima Ecuatorian de Transportes was a privately held airline of Ecuador which began operation in the 1960s. The collapse of Ecuador’s economy in the late 90’s forced the airline to cease operation in 2000. Bags were bought at €22.80.

A plastic bag with pull strings from Royal Nepal Airlines, which is quite unusual was sold at €22.50.

2 bags from Luxair of which one was scarce were sold at €22.00 which was rank #45.

Aigle-Azur which serves France with North Africa is a French airline. Much to my surprise price came up to €21.50 as 2 gentlemen fought very hard for this bag.

Bags from the Brazilian carrier NHT is on sale during the last few quarters. This time prices were €20.87 and €20.50.

On rank #50 we find a Japanese bag from Osaka Airport Transport which is available on busses on this airport. Price came up to €20.71 and another bag in direct sale at €20, which is rank #53, the last bag on this list.

Air Algerie normally is nothing special. But an older bag with a slightly different design was attractive enough to spent €20.50.

A British Airways sick bag from 1976 was #52 at a price of €20.11.

Maybe you can agree that first quarter of 2008 started not too bad. Let us se what the next months will bring. Kind regards from sunny Germany."

- Gerd Clemens

Biman needs bags

2008-08-17T19:03:00.003+02:00

Bangladeshi flag carrier Biman is in the market for some new bags.

Not just a few: the tender has gone out to supply them with 13,75,000 bags.

That's 13.75 lakh, or 1.375 million bags. At five grams a bag, that lot would weigh nearly 7 tons.

Anyone want to come together with me for a joint bid? I'm still a few crores and lakhs short of the number of bags they need. But if enough baggists pool our spares, perhaps we can put together enough to compete.

Still short of spares? Then one way to get enough bags together would be for each baggist in this group to steal as many bags as we can from each plane we board (yes, I know we all do this anyway...). With (say) 70 baggists contributing (say) 10 bags a month to a common pool, we should be able to get the number of bags we need to fulfil the order in a little over 160 years.

French textbook to feature bags

2008-08-17T18:39:00.002+02:00

Rejected: Finnaviation and Jaromir Kral's design (used here by Aviateca)

Exclusive to bagophily.com: A fifth-grade French-language textbook in Canada is to feature bags and baggery, bagophily.com has learned.

The book will follow the exploits of "Keiko", a young girl who supposedly lives in St John's in Newfoundland. Keiko travels a lot, so has amassed a barfbag collection.

A representative of the publisher contacted bagophily.com for publication-quality images of the bags in Keiko's fictitious collection. Plans originally called for the book to include Finnaviation's iconic barfing reindeer design, as well as Jaromir Kral's wondrous happy full barfbag.

But Finnaviation's copyright holders refused permission to use the reindeer image, and Jaromir's design was judged "not cutesy enough".

The book will now feature bagdesigns from Virgin Atlantic's Design for Chunks Limited Edition series.

The French reader will be published in March 2009. Bagophily.com has been promised an exclusive copy.

Baggist in photo exhibit

2008-08-17T18:22:00.004+02:00

Hamburg-based baggist Oliver Conradi stars in a photo exhibit by rising photographer Hannah Schuh.

Part of Ms Schuh's exhibit features "Wunderkammer" (magical chambers): "collectors and their treasured objects".

The shot of Oliver shows him seated at a table strewn with his treasured bags, tossing a handful into the air. Not advisable for fragile or vintage bags, though Oliver has so many that he can afford to chuck them around.

Ms Schuh's photos were exhibited in The Hague from 28 June to 6 July 2008, and in Amsterdam from 10 to 16 July.

Click on the photo to see the full collection (of Hannah's photos, not Oliver's bags).

Baggist breaks bagprice record

2008-08-17T17:41:00.003+02:00

An anonymous bag collector based in Belgium has broken the world record for a bag price.

"Kiekeboecollector" has shelled out €430 for two identical barfbags erroneously marketed as "DDR". That's €215 each. Probably 1930s vintage from Lufthansa, the pricey bags sport the text "Nach Gebrauch nicht aus dem Flugzeug werfen, sondern schliessen und auf den Boden stellen."

That's "After use, do not throw out of the window but close and stand on the floor." Useful advice even today.

But are they real? After all, given the prices paid for vintage bags, it would be tempting for unscrupulous bagforgers to find a brown paper bag of the right size and have the appropriate text printed on it.

And the lack of a logo means that these bags, however costly, cannot be counted towards a world record using the Guinness World Records criteria.

That presumably does not matter to Kiekeboecollector, well-known as a high roller among knowledgeable eBay bidders.

Italian parliamentarian into bags?

2008-08-16T19:45:00.000+02:00

Irene Pivetti, broadcaster and politician, and former president of the Italian Parliament, is interested in bags, reports Italian baggist Guido Debenedetti.

Ms Pivetti interviewed Guido about his bags for Radio Monte Carlo on 21 October 2007.

Baggists active in Dallas

2008-08-12T08:51:00.006+02:00

A trio of the world's leading baggists was active at the Airliners International show in Dallas in July.

The photo on the left shows Bob Grove (centre), beaming at having grabbed a Lina Congo bag (click on the picture for a closer view).

He would have been even happier if he had got to a Budget Airways bag before Niek Vermeulen (right).

The third member of the trio, Bruce Kelly (left), seems to have emerged bagless despite a long trip from Alaska. He had to make do with what appears to be a boxful of pork pies by his elbow.

Thanks to Bob for the photo.

Virtual airline, real bag

2008-07-13T12:57:00.005+02:00

Most of the airsickness bags featured on bagophily.com are issued by airlines. The Ingold Airline bag is no exception: Ingold is a Cologne-based carrier founded by Swiss professor and entrepreneur Res Ingold.

The Ingold Airlines website allows you to book flights from anywhere in the world, using a variety of transport means. You can add on-board services ranging from acupuncture to archery.

Ingold's barfbag features a stork with severe gastroenteritis with projectile diarrhoea and regurgitating its herring lunch.

With such a range of services, and a bag to make larger carriers envious, it's a shame that Ingold is entirely fictitious. The airline is an artistic endeavour rather than a transport concern. Found by Professor Ingold in 1982, the firm is virtual: it has no planes, no crew, no ground staff, no passengers, and no worries about rising fuel costs.

The Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, a Cologne newspaper, carried a story about Ingold Airlines in its 28/29 June 2008 edition.

The bag is real, though. Now, how do I classify it on bagophily.com?

Click on the bag on the left to see it in all its glory, and on the newspaper article to read the full text (in German).

Thanks to Walter Brinker for the bag and article.

Goodbye to sanis

2008-05-17T20:00:00.001+02:00

Bagophily.com is giving up on sanibags.

A pioneer in this innovative field of bag collecting, bagophily.com has amassed the world's largest collection of sanitary receptacles.

But life at the top is too much, bagophily.com founder and CEO Paul Mundy explains.

"Feminine hygiene products have become a distraction from our core business of barf", he says. "Collectors have started sending in sanibags and expecting high-value airline barfbags in return."

The inherent difficulty of managing a sanibag collection also play a part. "Many sanibags are very similar: there are dozens of 'Hygiene-Beutel' or 'Hygienické sáčky' variants, not to mention 'Astrein' and 'Pour les dames'. Very few have logos - you're lucky if you see one with a cross on it", says Mundy. "That makes bags hard to classify. We've considered hiring interns to handle the backlog, but can't find anyone interested."

So the bagophily.com sanibag collection has moved - to specialist Dutch collector Johannes Bosma.

"Mr Bosma has been a close partner in developing the bagophily.com collection, and we are confident that the bags will do well under his stewardship", says Mundy.

Bagsurvey reveals rift in world baggery

2008-05-08T23:12:00.019+02:00

Baggists were quizzed about their habit

A rift has emerged in world baggery between modernists and traditionalists, a study has revealed.

And it's increasingly a rift between the baghaves and the baghavenots

Earlier this year bagophily.com asked baggists how they had acquired their bags during 2007. A total of 11 baggists replied - that's 15% of the worldwide membership of the exclusive barfbags egroup of collectors. Not a bad response rate from a group who deal primarily in stolen goods.

The survey asked the baggists to say how many bags they had acquired from each of these seven categories:

Stolen: Collected yourself from aircraft or airports
Requests: Requested from bag manufacturers, airlines, etc.
Donations: Donated by friends, relatives, etc.
Swaps: Exchange or donations other collectors
eBay: Purchased via eBay
Bought: Purchased by routes other than eBay (eg at collectors’ conventions)
Other: Other (please specify)

The 11 respondents reported they had acquired a total of 1863 bags in 2007 - ranging from an impressive haul of 420 for the most prolific baggist, to a meagre 6 bags by what my wife might call a "mickriger Kleinsammler" (a miserable small-time collector).

Where do bags come from?

The most important source of bags - accounting for an impressive 755 bags, or 41% of the total, was swaps. Yes, the barter trade is still alive and well in bagdom.

A close second, with 683 bags or 37% of the total, was purchases from eBay. Barter may still be king, but cash is about to dethrone it.

The only other significant source was gifts, which accounted for 14% of the bags acquired.

Baggists stole surprisingly few of their bags themselves: only 4% of the total. Perhaps that is because they tend to fly on the same airlines, so have little opportunity to acquire new bags in this way. That doesn't mean that flying is a waste of time from a bagging point of view: many baggists harvest multiple bags from a single aircraft, so generate large numbers of bags they can swap with other collectors.

Treating baggists as equals

The figures above are based on the total number of bags acquired, so give more weight to collectors with large baghauls. What does it look like if we treat all baggists alike - from Superbagman with his 420 new bags, down to the 6-bag weakling?

Swaps now dominate the picture, accounting for 42% of the typical baggist's acquisitions. Gifts from relatives, workmates, friends, friends-of-friends-of-friends and casual one-flight-stand partners, are a major source. eBay drops to third place, supplying only 19% of our typical baggist's hoard.

Are you an eBay junkie?

But is there such a thing as a typical baggist? Some baggists are eBay junkies, scouring cyberspace for hot items and diverting all their disposable income to fund bidding wars against fellow addicts. One confessed to spending a four-figure euro sum to finance his habit, and pleaded with bagophily.com researchers not to inform his wife.

Other baggists eschew eBay altogether, preferring to rely on barter and smuggling to boost their collections. Their only cost is the postage needed to ship bags around the globe in plain brown envelopes.

As might be expected, the two groups show markedly different bagacquisition patterns. The junkies first:

This group of five of our 11 respondents netted some 1349 bags in 2007. Over half came from eBay, while another 5% were bought at collector conventions. Swaps and gifts were also important sources.

Ignoring the market

How about baggists who resist the temptation to splurge their hard-earned income on secondhand paper bags? As expected, swaps were by far the most important source of supplies for this group, accounting for 70% of their accessions. Gifts were also important - these baggists clearly cultivate their friendships carefully.

But these six respondents managed to acquire only 514 bags between them in 2007 - less than half the haul amassed by the eBay crowd. Turning their backs on the cash-for-bags trade clearly carries a price: a smaller stash of bags.

And take the eBay slice out of the junkies' pie, and it looks pretty similar to that of the non-market-oriented subsistence baggists. It looks as if baggists who support their habit with cash are able to build their collections faster than those who rely on traditional collection mechanisms. That points to a growing rift in world baggery - between a market-savvy, eBay-oriented elite, and a persistent underclass of subsistence baggists - a lumpen proletariat toiling away in the nether regions of the bagleague tables.

Thanks to all baggists who responded to the survey. Watch for more surveys on bagophily.com!

Grinches spare German Wikipedia - for now

2008-05-03T13:56:00.010+02:00

Back in March we reported that the Wikipedia entry on airsickness bags had been emasculated by fastidious editors.

One justified hitting the delete key by describing bagsites such as bagophily.com as "utterly unnotable".

Bremen-based baggist Wolfgang Franken has pointed out that the entry on "Spuckbeutel" in the German version of Wikipedia has so far been spared the blue-pencilled onslaught.

More entertainingly written than its English equivalent (even before the grinches decimated it), the German entry mentions the innovative designs of Hapag-Lloyd Express, as well as Qantas's predilection for bags that double as film mailing envelopes. It even has a short list of collectors' bagsites.

Wikipedia's policy is to make all its language versions parallel - so make sure you read the German version while it still exists.

English speakers can console themselves with the thought that English and German are the only languages to have a Wikipedia entry on this important subject. A search for sac vomitoire in the French Wikipedia results in a plaintive "Il n'existe aucune page portant ce titre", and invites you to créer la page « sac vomitoire » vous-même. Spanish speakers in search of encyclopedic information on bolsas de mareo are similarly frustrated: "No existe ningún artículo con el título que has escrito".

Meanwhile the English Wikipedia site requests readers to supply references to justify its bagtext. Sadly, most of the world's literature on bags is in German - as cited by the German Wikipedia page.

Just remember, bagophily.com is not what Wikipedia regards as a "reliable source".

Damaged bag?

2008-04-30T21:52:00.006+02:00

Is your prize barfbag less than complete? Has it lost one of its most vital components - second only to its watertight base? Did the wire closure snag on the the seat pocket when you removed it, and tear off?

Look no further: now you can repair your bag with the real thing: genuine Sick Bag Strips from Schutte Bagclosures.

Schutte can supply Sick Bag Strips in green, white or brown (other colours on demand) so you can repair your bags with an original-looking strip.

The strips come pre-cut in lengths from 40 mm to 400 mm (that's nearly long enough for even the largest barfbag), or precision wound on reels of up to 2000 metres.

2000 metres? That's enough closure strips to run the full length of an Airbus A380 thirteen times. On both decks. Should be enough to last a lifetime of repairs for even the most destructive of baggists.

Order your supplies here.

Bagsite of the Month, May 2008

2008-04-30T21:16:00.003+02:00

The prestigious Bagsite of the Month Award doesn't normally go to a site without any bag pictures at all. But the Awards Committee has made an exception this month by nominating Russell Buckley's site for this accolade.

Manchester-based Russell isn't really interested in bags, but he hoovers up any he can find in order to swap them for the real love of his life, airline safety cards.

His bag swaps lists contains 248 items - which puts him at a respectable 41st place on the official bagophily.com Rich List. Not bad for a non-baggist.

Baggists eager to enrich their collection could do worse then browsing his list for needed items.

The Awards Committee wishes to point out that this award in no way condones the unauthorized removal of safety cards from aircraft. As is well-known, aircraft that lack a full complement of safety cards are more prone to fall out of the sky than those fully equipped with this vital item of passenger safety education.

Bagsite of the Month, April 2008

2008-03-31T09:25:00.003+02:00

Bagsite of the Month for April 2008 is the little-known Needful Things site of Bjørn Christian Tørrissen.

"Ever since the Vikings left the shores of Scandinavia in their small, unsteady boats, people from the north-western part of Europe have had a special relationship to travelsickness bags," explains Bjørn.

The site has only a limited number of bags on display. But is definitely the place to go if you want to see a 1988 BusyBee bag.

What it lacks in eye candy, this site makes up in terms of witty text. There is a list of handy phrases to use when requesting a bag. Try this one next time you fly:

"Excuse me, miss flight-attendant. Would you be able to help me with a device for regurgitating, somewhere in the immediate future?"

Then there's a list of translations and euphemisms for vomit in various languages. Follow that with readers' stories, a set of after-dinner jokes, and an instruction manual on how to puke.

Hello Kitty, Goodbye Lunch

2008-03-30T20:39:00.002+02:00

Hello Kitty, a moon-faced cartoon cat beloved of Japanese teenies, has invaded Eva Air.

The Taiwanese carrier has branded an entire plane with the cartoon pussycat. The image of the furry feline is licensed by the Japanese firm Sanrio.

"EVA Air introduced the Hello Kitty aircraft last year after two years of negotiation with Sanrio," reported the Asia Times Online in January 2006.

"The aircraft now operates daily between Taipei and Fukuoka, Japan. The Hello Kitty theme is pursued with mind-boggling thoroughness: the airline issues pink Hello Kitty boarding passes and luggage tags to passengers, and serves Hello Kitty meals and Hello Kitty duty-free shopping. Even the airsickness bags are Hello Kitty-themed (bidding starts at US$9.99 on eBay)."

Images on the left are from the News on Japan blog.

Altitude sickness?

2008-03-30T09:47:00.007+02:00

Halfway up Everest and feel the urge to hurl?

There are several fellow climbers are hanging on the rope below you, unable to dodge falling vomit. And close behind is a team of mountaineering lawyers who have paid the Nepalese government a hefty climbing fee. They are unlikely to be amused by being plastered with gobbets of semi-digested lunch impacting them at terminal velocity. They have a litigious reputation; you fear having to pay out millions in damages.

Fortunately you have with you just the item for this occasion: a Black Diamond Barf Bag.

Crafted from durable, water-resistant polyethylene tarp material with Hypalon®-reinforced dual handles, this bag is big enough to last you to the top of the Himalayas. You can even tie a rope to the handles and lower it to your altitude-sick colleague struggling up the rock face below.

There's a separate compartment for your mobile phone, in case you need to call in a helicopter ambulance.

Get this item from Moosejaw, a Michigan-based outdoors outfitters, for only $29.95. Order two to avoid having to pay for shipping. You get 299 Reward Points along with the bag.

If you don't have much cash spare after paying that climbing fee, you could plump for a cheaper alternative: the Moosejaw Barf Bag.

This plain paper bag comes with a thumbhole to ease opening with frostbitten fingers, plus 19 Reward Points. But unusually for a barfbag, it's neither windproof nor waterproof, and has no ventilation. What do you expect for a mere $1.95?

Lamborghini bag

2008-03-29T21:59:00.008+01:00

Considering that its cars cost as much as a small aircraft and can go nearly as fast around corners, it's surprising that it has taken Lamborghini so long to produce its own range of barfbags.

Like many of the firm's vehicles, the Lambo bag comes in a stylish glossy black, a colour not seen in any bags available on board commercial aircraft.

The maker's bull shield marque is printed at the top right.

A real bag, or a marketing gimmick? Lamborghini itself is "currently out of stock". Visit the Lamborghini site and click on "merchandising" to see for yourself. The bag acts as a splash screen to the firm's merchandise outlet - which doesn't mention barfbags.

If it's a real bag, this item could become a new Holy Grail for collectors.

Bags as a fashion accessory

2008-03-27T22:48:00.004+01:00

Discerning collectors are of course familiar with sundry secondary genres of barfbags - apart from their use to prevent unpleasantness on board aircraft. These subsidiary genres include offering a way for cinema operators to maintain hygiene during screenings of third-rate horror flicks, a vehicle for preserving free speech and expressing opinions about politicians, as book-promotion vehicles, and so on.

Now here's a bag from a completely new genre: social commentary.

The enigmatic Jezebel Fashion Week bag carries the text "Celebrity, sex, fashion. Without airbrushing."

The bag comes with a box of TicTac mints, a pack of Ex-Lax (a laxative) and a tongue depresser.

Why? Something to do with the New York fashion week, I guess.

As far as I can make out, Jezebel is a blog aimed at East Coast American women with nothing much to do. Except distribute barfbags to eager collectors. See if you can work it out yourself: jezebel.com.

Thanks to Steve Silberberg for the bag.

"A problem for politics, environment and health"

2008-03-21T11:38:00.005+01:00

Fresh dogshit is a hot topic in hygiene-conscious Central Europe.

The veterinary magazine VetImpulse recently highlighted the problem in a two-page feature article devoted to precluding pavement pooch poo pollution.

Click on the images on the left to read the article.

Among the fascinating tidbits avid readers can glean:

132,000 Viennese have protested against dogshit in the city.
Germany's 5 million dogs produce 2500 tons of poop a day - 55 tons in Berlin alone.
Swiss shit analysts found that 7.1% of canine excreta contain dog roundworm eggs, which then get tracked into nurseries and dining rooms for toddlers to consume.
The city administration of Wolfsburg in Austria has deployed a converted Yamaha scooter to suck up poop into a special on-board container.

The best cure for dogshit? Provide bags for dog owners to pick up their dogpies and take them home. And impose a hefty fine on dog-lovers who do not clean up after their canine companions.

Check the Gallery on the left (scroll down past the airline bags) for the world's largest collection of doggie bags.

At last - a use for plain white bags

2008-03-20T09:05:00.003+01:00

Plain white bags (the sort supplied by American Airlines and other uncaring carriers) normally find little resonance among passengers.

But they have a secret coterie of admirers: professional photographers.

For bags make excellent flash diffusers. Open the bag, check that it contains no foreign matter, then tape it upside down over your camera flash.

Plain white bags are best for this purpose, according to this article in The Global Photographer.

"Just one barf bag (a/k/a: 'flight discomfort bag') stuck onto the top of a flash head will mellow out the light dramatically — especially for more 'close in' sort of work", says the author, Matthew Monroe. "And the way that light gets sprayed in all directions can really help in raising the overall brightness of a room and background."

Photographers who wish to avoid unpredictable colour casts or special effects should avoid the decorated bags beloved of baggists. "Bags that are some color other than white are not really suitable for diffusing a flash", says Mr Monroe. "Bags with lots of colored printing are also not suitable."

So if you board an aircraft that carries plain bags but find none in your seat pocket, perhaps a photographer got there before you.

Thanks to Steve Silberberg for this alert.

Wikipedia bag entry emasculated

2008-03-13T07:57:00.011+01:00

The Wikipedia grinches have been busy on bags.

The online encyclopedia's entry on Airsickness bags has been severely trimmed by fastidious editors.

Gone are the references to barfbags in popular culture - descriptions of bags in film and song.

Gone are links to bagsites, including bagophily.com, described by the discriminating editor, "Thumperward", as being "utterly unnotable".

Thumperward, whose real name is Chris Cunningham, is not known to be a baggist.

This editorial vandalism reflects the internal debate currently wracking Wikipedia between "deletionists" (who promote selectivity) and "inclusionists" (who aim for wide coverage).

Judging by the entry on airsickness bags, it seems the deletionists are winning.

Here are some versions of the entry as it has evolved.

12 Feb 2006: original version
5 Sep 2006: after numerous revisions by "Barfbagger" (real name: Graham Curran, a noted baggist)
Current version

Click here to see the full history of how the entry has evolved.

Want to contribute? Wikipedia says "Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources." Bagophily.com obviously doesn't count as reliable.

Belgian bagfest dates fixed

2008-03-11T21:28:00.002+01:00

The Brussels Aviation Convention is scheduled for 18 October 2008, reports Belgian baggist Tom de Kort.

Click here for bagophily.com's list of airline shows where you can buy stuff that has been stolen from airlines.

Bagfashion on board

2008-03-11T20:42:00.002+01:00

German bagauthor Gerd-Otto Rieke has done it again - while the rest of us publicity-hungry baggists are happy for a measly half-a-column-inch of press coverage, Gerd-Otto has landed a full half-page in the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper.

His article in the Bavarian paper's 5 February 2008 issue is an ideal introduction to the science of baggery for budding baggists and barfsceptics alike.

Gerd-Otto opens a new window on the world of baggery: the placement of the bag in the seat pocket: just like in men's fashion, "a corner of the bag must peek out of the seat pocket".

Click on the picture to read the full article (in German).

Thanks to Juergen Klein for this item.

The Clemens eBay report for 4th quarter 2007

2008-03-09T18:51:00.004+01:00

"Not too much is to report from the 4th quarter of 2007", says our correspondent Gerd Clemens.

"Bags offered were of not too much interest which led to very low prices.

Most spectacular auction was a collection of about 140 different bags. Seven bidders fought for it and after 17 bids price came up to 101 GBP which is about €135.

Much to my surprise an Italian airline Alpieagles came in as winner for this quarter at a price of €65.20. Alpieagles was founded in 1979 as aerobatic team. In 1996 they started transport activities and passenger services. Their main hub was at Venice. Financial problems let to a loss of the licence and from 1.1.2008 on their operations came to an end.

Santa Barbara Airlines from Venezuela was often mentioned in this report during the last quarters. Unfortunately their name appeared in news now because of an accident of one of their planes. This time a bag was sold at €41.60.

Avior Airlines was on sale in the 3rd Quarter too and described there. Price now was €39.23.

Caledonian/BUA is named the Scottish International Airline. For a short period of time both names Caledonian and BUA were used then just the name Caledonian remained. A rare bag from this time came up to a price of €36.

At the ranks 5 and 6 Allegro from Mexico was on sale again. Prices are keeping very high at €35.50 and €35.

Travira Air from Indonesia is another bag who is on sale for the last few months, and again price was €33.15.

Air Cairo is an Egyptian airline. Air Cairo was founded by a consortium of Egyptian travel agents and started operation in 1997. In 2003 Egypt Air acquired 40% of the shares and operation was transferred to a new company with name Cairo Aviation. Finally Air Cairo was repositioned as a new low cost Egyptian subsidiary, which operates domestic and international charter services. Price of the bag was €32.50.

TAF Linhas Aereas is a Brazilian airline which started operation in 1971. Their former name was Taxi Aereoa Fortaleza = TAF. Their base is the town Fortaleza. Price was €32.00.

At rank #10 we find a maritime sea sickness bag from SMZ which stands for the Dutch Stoomvart Maatschappij Zeeland N.V. Price was €27.10.

A small collection of 3 bags was offered of which one bag, namely a rare Air Pacific bag was of most interest. This brought price up to €26.97.

From the same seller another collection of 3 bags was offered including a bag from the Lebanese carrier MEA with a different printing. Price came up to €25.62.

Passaredo is another regional airline in Brazil. It is based in Ribeirao Preto, Sao Paolo State. They started operations in 1995. After a suspension of operations in April 2002 it restarted operation in 2004. Its fleet includes 3 Embraer planes. Bags were sold at prices of €25.55 and €25.05 which are ranks # 14 and15.

On rank # 16 we find and old British Caledonian bag at a price of €24.50. British Caledonian came into being in Nov. 1970 when the Scottish charter carrier Caledonian Airways took over British United Airways BUA and became the largest independent British airline. End of 1987 after financial difficulties British Airways gained control of its erstwhile competitor.

Next rank is a bag from Syrianair at a price of €23.20.

Go Air is an Indian low cost carrier which is based in Mumbai and established in 2004. Their bag was sold at a price of €23.85.

Pluna is an airline from Uruguay. A bag with 3 colours was sold at €23.75.

On rank # 20 we find the black plastic bag from the Kenyan low cost carrier fly 540. Also this bag was on sale very often during the last half of the year. Despite this price was exceeding 20 Euro again, this time at €22.50.

Another row of 3 bags was on sale including a bag from the US airline Arrow Air, which was sold at €22.25.

Last but not least from a disappointing quarter and at rank # 22 we find the new brown bag from Japan Airlines at a price of €21.50.

This was all I detected in the 4th Quarter 2007.

With my best regards - Gerd Clemens"

Winnibag Free Press

2008-03-04T13:23:00.005+01:00

"It's not just queasy riders who relish a good airsickness bag", says this article in the 1 March 2008 edition of the Winnipeg Free Press.

The article in the Canadian newspaper is based on an interview with Swedish baggist Rune Tapper. Rune pines for an Air Force One bag, enthuses about movie bags, and berates North American airlines for providing plain white pukepacks.

The article reveals that Rune keeps his collection in shoe boxes - an unusual storage format for serious baggists, who generally prefer acid-free archival-quality mylar envelopes in a climate-controlled environment.

How do people react to his preoccupation?, the reporter asked Rune.

"'Are you kidding? My wife left me and my neighbours hate me,' he says half-jokingly."

Which half is the joke, Rune - the bit about the neighbours, or the wife?

Bags on the box

2008-02-27T16:34:00.004+01:00

If you are lucky enough to live in northern Germany, you might have caught Oliver Conradi and his bag collection on NDR3 television on 27 Feb 2008.

The Das! programme sandwiched Oliver's bags between stories about herrings and goats.

Among the secrets divulged: the size of Oliver's collection: 5100 bags. In the interest of family harmony, the bags have been banished to a filing cabinet in his basement. And Oliver chats up stewardesses in order to get at their bags (OK, so maybe that wasn't a secret after all).

Oliver has been attracting a fair amount of media attention recently. Last week a report about his collection appeared on Dutch television, while in May/June a photo exhibition will tour Eindhoven and Amsterdam. Oliver says that an illustrated book is in the works.

More bagtoons

2008-02-27T16:01:00.003+01:00

The bagartists at Cartoonstock.com have been putting in some overtime recently.

Visit the Bagophily.com Art Department to see their latest masterpieces.

The Rolls-Royce of barfbags

2008-02-27T14:46:00.005+01:00

"Have you succumbed to the unbridled joy of Air Sickness Bag Collecting? Do you have vomit fever?" asks the website selling the modestly named Convenience Bag.

This has got to be the ultimate in luxury vomit receptacles - a plastic bag with an extra-wide funnel opening, inner valve to seal the contents in, and patented sleeve to protect your hand from toxic splatter.

All this is available from the the Survival Store, a California firm that enables paranoid customers prepare for the worst: "H5N1 Avian Bird Flu, Armageddon, avalanche, blizzard, crisis, terrorist attack, tornado, tsunami, major disaster, firestorm, heat wave, earthquake, hurricane, Severe Weather, flood, anthrax, hazardous chemical accidents or other emergency."

The little girl pictured on the left is clearly suffering from all of these. That's why she needs a Convenience Bag. Visit the Survival Store webpage to watch her use it.

While you're there, pick up your own supply of bags at only $24.95 per dozen. Ideal for the next outbreak of avian flu.

Baggists eagerly await news that airlines have emblazoned these bags with their logos and have begun to stock them on board.

"Puke And Advertising Don't Mix"

2008-02-27T14:17:00.003+01:00

Remember the hype when US Airways decided to put advertising on its barfbags?

Click here for some learned comments from the advertising industry about this move. "Believe it or not, there are also people that actually collect these things!" (Duh, are they talking about us?)

Bagsite of the Month, March 2008

2008-02-27T09:35:00.003+01:00

One of the unsung trends in world baggery is the growing number of baggists in Japan. Unusually for the bag-collecting industry, most bag aficionados in the Land of Sony and Sushi appear to be women. And happily for bagophiles worldwide, they are beginning to put their collections online.

The latest to come to our attention at bagophily.com is Kyoko Hagino-Tomioka's site, げろ袋コレクション

If your Japanese is not up to scratch, try the English version of the site.

Kyoko's small collection is rich in Japanese and East Asian bags, including the hard-to-find Osaka Airport Transport wastebag (pictured on the left). Click on the links to see a scan of each of her bags in all its glory. And don't forget to check Kyoko's swap list for Asian items that may be missing in Eurocentric collections.

A shake and a smile

2008-02-26T12:51:00.002+01:00

"When I describe my hobby, they first shake their head, then they smile", says Gerhard Lang.

The Baden-Wuerttemberg-based baggist is featured in the January edition of the German eBay Magazin - along with grandson Julian and a bunch of bags waiting to be filled.

Click on the photo to read the article.

Ridiculous: moi?

2008-02-20T10:43:00.005+01:00

Buzzfeed, a site devoted to weird stuff, has nominated Bagophily.com as one of its eight best "ridiculous collections".

Coming in at fourth, bagophily.com just missed out on a podium position. Scoring more are collections of Star Wars figurines, a music collection containing 3 million records, and a collection of stale cigarettes.

Bagophily finished above collections of toothpaste, sugar, rubber bands used to package vegetables, and dice.

All of which are far more ridiculous collectibles than barfbags. After all, research reveals that at least 10% of the adult population are closet baggists.

The music collection, claimed to be the world's largest, was sold on Ebay for $3,002,150. Savvy winning bidders could get $10 back by applying for an eBay Mastercard, as well as "up to $200 in buyer protection".

The bagophily.com bag collection is not currently for sale. But make an offer approaching $3 million, and my wife will be pleased to hear from you.

Thanks to Steve Silberberg for the heads up.

Going boating?

2008-02-16T20:53:00.003+01:00

Then don't forget to take a few barfbags with you.

They come in useful for a variety of purposes: to deal with seasick passengers who do not wish to feed the fish - and as decorative lighting.

"Attached is a photo I took in 1986 of our canalboat moored in the South Oxford Canal between Oxford and Wolvercote," says David Shomper.

"My friends and I took quite a few barfbags off the plane and decorated our boat in the evenings with votive candles inside the bags. Aside from a few bags catching fire, it was a successful art exhibit. We also lit the candles to cruise through the several long tunnels on the Grand Union Canal."

Beg, borrow or steal?

2008-02-16T19:38:00.006+01:00

Bagsurvey question

In the last year, how many new bags (ie, bags of a type you did not have before) have come from the following sources?

Stolen: Collected yourself from aircraft or airports
Requests: Requested from bag manufacturers, airlines, etc.
Gifts: Donated by friends, relatives, etc.
Swaps: Exchange with or donations from other collectors
Ebay: Purchased via Ebay
Bought: Purchased by routes other than Ebay (eg at collectors’ conventions)
Other: Other (please specify).

Where do all those bags come from? Out of aeroplanes, of course... but how do they get from the seat pocket in front of you into a bag collection?

Bagophily.com's first ever survey asked baggists the question on the left.

Eight baggists have responded so far: hardly a representative sample, given the zillions of bag aficionados out there, but obviously most baggists are too busy, or too shy, to respond. Responses varied widely: one miserable baggist admitted to having enriched his collection by only six new bags in previous year. Another summarized the provenance of over 2000 bags in his collection.

The results depend, or course, on how you view the world. Interested in total numbers? Then look at this diagram.

Ebay auctions are clearly the main source, followed by swaps and theft. But these results are skewed by two respondents with large collections who bought heavily on Ebay.

The diagram below shows the same data, but treating all eight respondents equally. Here, swaps and gifts are the main sources, while Ebay drops into third place.

Thanks to those baggists who responded. If you haven't answered yet, send me your responses to the questions above, and I'll update the analysis.

To bagly go

2008-02-14T20:39:00.000+01:00

Will barfbags be accompanying humankind on its next great journey - into space?

Bags have been around since the dawn of powered flight, and they have already provided sterling service to maintain hygienic conditions on board rockets, including the Space Shuttle.

But what of the future? Will they be on board Virgin Galactic's SpaceShip Two (pictured on the left) carry bags?

According to this article in The Economist, Virgin Galactic's president Will Whitehorn says one operator of zero-gravity aeroplane rides has virtually eliminated the vomiting, thanks to a combination of “diet, drugs, training and methodology”.

This operator presumably is Las-Vegas-based Zero-G, which offers weightless flights in a specially modified Boeing 727-200.

So the future of baggery looks bleak. Are barfbag doomed to remain earthbound? And will cost-cutting airlines learn from approaches used in space? They could save on bags by starving passengers, then drugging them and putting them through a barf training course before allowing them on board.

The one hope for baggery appears to be the value of bags to boost the image of airlines. There is already a clear distinction between airlines, such as Virgin Atlantic, that aggressively pursue a bag-based branding strategy, and those which provide boring bags to complement their mediocre onboard service.

Ironically, it is often the low-cost airlines that provide passengers with more entertaining bags. Germanwings, for example, has produced a range of innovative designs, while rival HLX counters with puns to advertise its services. Most established carriers, such as Air France, Lufthansa and almost all US-based airlines, seem to think that a video screen and airline magazine are enough to keep their customers entertained while on board.

Bagophily.com's seers predict the emergence of a similar distinction in space. Once the initial hype about overpriced short-duration suborbital hops has subsided, expect to see the emergence of a two-tier spaceline industry: innovative start-ups that provide barfbags emblazoned with ritzy holographic logos, and established players that focus on getting passengers from A to Ω at minimum expense, and without any bags.

Don't throw out of the window

2008-02-08T23:32:00.000+01:00

Aidan's bag has a handwritten note with the date - 1936...

Walter's is in mint condition

On modern Lufthansa aircraft, you're lucky if you get a bag at all. And if you do, you have a limited number of places to put it when full. Don't want to hand it to the cabin crew? Then you can put it on the floor, under your seat, or perhaps pass it to your neighbour across the aisle.

Back in the 1930s, lucky passengers had an extra option: they could open the window and drop the bag out. This was frowned upon in densely populated Germany.

So Lufthansa came up with a solution: boldface text on the bag saying "Nach Gebrauch, nicht aus dem Flugzeug werfen, sondern schliessen und auf den Boden stellen" (After use, do not through out of the aircraft, but close and place on the floor").

The Olde Bagges section of bagophily.com displays several examples of this genre, including this fine example belonging to British baggist Aidan Stradling.

Is this the same as Walter Brinker's Lufthansa bag, displayed on the same page? Or did the German aviation pioneer make subtle changes to its bag design even at this early stage in aviation history?

Whales not interested in bags

2008-02-08T22:28:00.000+01:00

The New England Aquarium in Boston goes to great lengths to protect nature when taking visitors out to spot whales.

Veteran baggist David Shomper reports that the Aquarium's boat provides barfbags to avoid seasick landlubbers from polluting the cetaceans' habitat by spewing over the side.

The bags are plain white - which may account for the whales' lack of interest in them. David's photos show them swimming away and diving rather than approaching to admire the bag design.

Bagsearch ends in sweet shop

2008-02-08T19:58:00.000+01:00

"The mystery Norwegian Air Shuttle bag comes to an end..." says Frank Mulliri.

"I took a picture of what I feared... The SMÅGODT bag is definitively NOT an airsickness bag... It can be found in all good shops around the kingdom selly candy under the brand Candy King."

Bagsite of the Month, February 2008

2008-02-07T22:30:00.000+01:00

Want a quick glance at some of those beautiful cultural artefacts that the common man uses to dispose of semi-digested food regurgitated after too many beers in the airport lounge just before boarding?

Then you could do worse than visiting this month's Bagsite of the Month, the Virtual Visimod Barf Bag Collection.

Created by computer geeks in a now-defunct media laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, this site also represents a collection that no longer exists: it was relocated to Steve Silberberg's Air Sickness Bags Virtual Museum.

Still worth a visit for sentimental reasons though, especially if you're interested in some of the more unusual items in the genre: a bag made from an ancient issue of the Daily Telegraph (a conservative British newspaper), a C++ bag designed for hackers sick of the intricacies of the programming language, a rare Osaka Air Transport bag, and several cartoon bags.

You can also download wallpaper designs of bags to adorn your computer when you don't have bagophily.com open. And you can download a commemorative certificate to prove that you've visited the site.

A baggist's gotta do what a baggist's gotta do

2008-01-30T18:42:00.000+01:00

"Bob Grove and I were at the Los Angeles airline collectible show last week-end", says hard-ridin', hard-drinkin' baggist Bruce Kelly.

"We scored a few bags and got a few more after a brief excursion to the Tijuana airport. Here we are standing next to John Wayne, well his statute at least at the John Wayne International Airport in Orange County between San Diego and Los Angeles."

Our photo shows a bronze Duke peeing into a trio of Bruce's newly won bags: First Choice, Egyptair and Indian Airlines. Hardly worth a trip to LAX from Bruce's home in Alaska, but maybe he was trying to avoid the January snows.

Bruce also visited the Grove ranch: "I can say that I have observed Bob Grove's very tastefully done home decor with dominant barf bag themes", he says. "He has some very rare bags indeed and it is a joy to see them proudly displayed. Unfortunately my wife will not allow such a decor in our home."

Forensic science reveals that Bob is proudly clutching a Gulf Air, plus two other bags I can't identify.

To misquote The Duke: “A bag is a bag, it ain't make a difference what color it is.”

Thanks to Bruce Kelly for (some of) this item.

Niek nears mile-high

2008-01-05T17:55:00.000+01:00

The 2008 Guinness World Records book doesn't mention barfbags.

Nor does the Guinness website.

But try typing "sick bags" into Guinness's search box, and up pops a picture of our very own Niek Vermeulen, sporting a Guinness sweatshirt and his trademark "barf bags wanted" baseball cap.

According to Guinness, Niek's collection boasts 5180 bags from 1003 airlines, and he has held the world record since 1970.

Mile-high? Not quite: there are 5280 feet in a mile. Niek should let us know when he hits the magic number so we can induct him into the Mile High Club.

Bagsite of the month, January 2008

2008-01-05T16:53:00.000+01:00

Kicking off the new year in this illustrious series of featured bagsites is Italian collector Guido Debenedetti's website, "Zio Guido's bags".

Reasons to visit this site? Well, click on the "Some of my bags" link to see Finnaviation's famous barfing reindeer, Jaromir Kral's cartoon bag, and the unique Air Cannaba bag, which presumably you can get only if you are on a trip.

Guido lists 362 bags in his collection, but apart from the sample in the "Some of my bags" link, there are no scans. You can drown your disappointment by turning on the sound on your computer and listening to the background music, which my wife assures me is from a 1970s Tony Curtis movie.

The real reason to check out this site, though, is to admire the Pinnochio Airlines postcard (pictured on the left). Guido says he will send you one if you ask him.

I don't know if Guido is still collecting - has anyone been in touch with him recently?

Boston Globe short of news

2008-01-04T16:17:00.000+01:00

The Boston Globe featured Steve Silberberg and his bag collection on 3 January 2007.

"Steven J. Silberberg is a Hull resident with an interesting hobby: He collects air-sickness bags," this article starts off.

The writing does get better, though. It had to, to compete with stories like "Look younger with these 10 tips" and "Changing the script on teen pregnancy".

The Globe goes on to reveal that bags are the key to Steve's heart.

"I've found it's a really good litmus test that shows if I will get along with somebody," the article quotes him.

Other thrilling details: "He keeps his air-sickness bags in plastic sheets and stores them in three-ring binders," and "His bag-collecting hit a zenith during the late 1990s, when he started finding other sickness bag enthusiasts on the Internet."

Yes, folks: keep reading bagophily.com, and you can help keep Steve on that pinnacle.

Vomito pre-confezionato

2007-12-30T18:36:00.000+01:00

And while we're on the subject, you can buy your own Vomitair: a pre-packaged bag of barf to hand to the stewardess in case you are not ill enough to puke up on your own.

You can purchase this item for a mere 25.00 "FantaEuros" from the Italian website eCompratelo, which advertises non-existent items dreamt up by users.

The website does not have any pictures of this innovative item, so it's impossible to tell what type of bag it would be delivered in if it were to exist.

Give your baggist a unique bag

2007-12-30T17:43:00.000+01:00

Can't afford that Lamborghini that the baggist in your life said he wanted for his birthday?

Can't get to IKEA in time to buy him one of those lifelike baglamps we featured earlier?

Then here's another gift idea: a personalized birthday barfbag.

This one, from Italian airline Vomitair, arrived from my brother for my birthday. Truly a unique present.* Click on the bag to find out which birthday it was.

Any other baggists received any similar dedicated bags?

*No, I don't have any spares. Like I said, it's one-of-a-kind.

Bags on YouTube

2007-12-30T17:14:00.000+01:00

For those with nothing else to do, there's a fast-growing genre of barfbag videos on YouTube.

Most feature appear to feature young people who have had too much to drink hurling their stomach contents into, or away from, the items that baggists normally collect.

I'm happy to report that in my admittedly brief perusal of these videographic masterpieces I have not spotted any bags worth collecting being rendered unwelcome in a serious collection.

A second subgenre shows how people use bags in innovative ways, such as to make hand puppets.

A third subgenre involves people talking about how barfbags have played a significant part in someone's life. This video, for example, is a 10-minute monologue by the manager of a limousine hire-car service rabbiting on about how partygoers didn't have enough of the excellent Sick Saver product in a limo they had hired. No, I don't recommend you watch it.

To access these Oscar might-have-beens, just type "barf bag" (or a similar term) into the Search box at YouTube.

Sadly, none of the baggist confraternity has yet seen fit to submit a video of his or her collection. Who is going to be the first?

Bagfest dates 2008

2007-12-30T16:53:00.000+01:00

Mark your calendars: here is a list of airline convention dates for 2008, courtesy Niek Vermeulen.

Corrections or additions gratefully received. Please send to the bagophily.com Situations Room.

Croydon Airport, Jan 6
Los Angeles, Jan 26
Basel, Feb 16
Stuttgart, Mar 15
San Francisco, Mar 15
Vienna, Mar 29
Los Angeles, Jun 21
AI 2008 Dallas, Jul 10-12
Frankfurt, Nov 1-2
New York La Guardia, Nov 8
Antwerp ?
Brussels ?
Frankfurt Jun?
Paris ?
Chicago ?

The Clemens ebay report for Jul-Sep 2007

2007-12-30T16:31:00.001+01:00

Some interesting air sickness bags have been on sale during the 3rd quarter of 2007.

It has become quite rare that very old bags are offered at Ebay. But if this is the case prices get up very high. And this is good. People who become aware about this fact are motivated to protect old bags, to offer them at Ebay and not to throw them into the rubbish bin. I know some people which did cleaning work finding a lot of so called useless rubbish. Years ago this would have been thrown away nowadays it is offered at Ebay; and in most of the cases its find a buyer.

Exactly this was the case with the winner for this quarter.

It is a bag from the 50th from Iberia for which price went up to €106.65.

Runner up is a bag from Venezuela namely Santa Barbara Airlines which was around in the second quarter of this year too and as far as I can see it will be in the short list for 4th quarter too. In this quarter price came up to €81.

Number 3 is a Brazilian bag from America Air at a price of €71.81. Eight bidders brought the price up to this level. America Air Taxi Aereo is a small local airline in the southeast of Brazil which operates with helicopters too.

Bag of the month comes from the Mongolian airline Eznis with the ranks #4 and #5 and #24 at prices of €75.87; €74.87 and €38.44. Eznis is based in the capital of Mongolia at Ulan Bator and was founded in 2006. With 3 Saab 340B it operates 10 domestic routes.

Okay Airways is China’s first private sector airline. Okay is based in Tianjin and its first flight took place in March 2005. Its bag came in as # 6 and #31 at prices of €72.30 and €30.44.

Another new Chinese airline namely Juneyao Airlines came in as # 7 and #32 at prices of €64.98 and €30.44 respectively. This Shanghai-based private airline started domestic services in Sept. 2006. As of April 2007 Juneyao operates the youngest fleet in the world at an average of 0.3 years old per aircraft. They have announced to order up to 30 Airbuses, so it is to hope that their air sickness bags will become available to other collectors too.

Jeju Air from Korea operates scheduled domestic services between the island Jeju and mainland Korea. Price for their bag was €62.34.

Xpressair is one of the countless airlines in Indonesia. This bag was around at Ebay in earlier quarters but still price came up to €60.17. Believe it or not, just 2 bidders fought for this bag.

On rank #10 we find 2 identical older bags which look like bags from Eastern Airline but from LAN Chile. Price was €59.

LAB came in as # 11 at a price of €54.48. The full name for LAB is Lloyd Aero Boliviano. It was the national airline of Bolivia. Due to financial problems in April 2007 services were suspended by the Bolivian government.

Air Minas is a Brazilian airline based in Belo Horizonte. Since Sept. 2003 it operates passenger services to destinations in the state of Minas Gerais and Mato Grosso.
A plastic bag form this airline was bought at €56.21.

Another Brazilian is NHT Linhas Aereas which started operation in August 2006. Based at Salgado Filho Intern. Airport at Porto Alegre the airline operates regional services to 14 cities. Price for their bag came up to €53.03.

At the ranks #14, #15 and# 36 at prices of €52, €49 and €26.50 we find a black plastic bag from the airline fly 540, which is based in Kenya.

As the name says it the airline Ecuatoriana is based in Ecuador. Price for the bag came up to €51.34.

Also with Star Peru it is easy to recognize where the airline comes from. Their bolsa de mareo was on sale a brought a final bid of €47.26.

Three older bags from Cathy Pacific were on sale in September 2007. One of them a really scarce item. This one was interesting enough for 6 bidders to bring price up to €46.91.

Pluna Airways is the Uruguayan airline. An old paper bag came up to €46.58.

As in the quarters before Allegro Airways was highly ranked. This quarter it ranked at # 20 at a price of €45.93.

As described earlier this year Rwandair Express is the national carrier of Rwanda. It came in at a price of €42.98.

As in quarter 2 of 2007 Travira Air from Indonesia was around at ranks # 22 and #37 at prices of €41.42 and €26.46.

Aero Postal Alas de Venezuela normally referred to as just Aeropostal in an airline based in Caracas, Venezuela. It operates domestic services and international services in the Caribbean area and to Colombia, Peru and USA. Their bag came in as #23 at a price of €39.03.

Norjet is a Spanish charter line which was founded in 1987. It merged with Lineas Aereas Canarias to form Meridiana Air in 1982. Bag price came up to €37.

In August a “JAL All Nippon Airways” paper waste bag from the 1960s came on sale. Price came up to €35.84 which was rank #26.

Scibe-Zaire is an airline from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Their former name was Scibe Airlift Cargo Zaire. Price for this bag was €35.10.

RICO Linhas Aereas is another Brazilian airline. Their new bag with a new logo was bought at €33.36.

INTAIR is a Canadian airline which ceased operation in the mid 1990s. Price for this plastic bag was €31.46.

Vietnam Airlines issued a new bag with a more modern design. Despite the fact that this bag will be more available within a short time, some wanted to be the first getting this bag in their collection. This brought price up to €30.50.

Another bag from Pluna, this time more colourful came in as # 33 at a price of €29.43.

Avior Airlines is based in Barcelona in Venezuela. The airline operates within Venezuela and southern Caribbean as well as Miami in USA. It started operation in 1994. Price for their bag was €26.60.

Asiana from Korea offers a bag which came in as # 38 at a price of €25.66.

Grand Canyon Airlines was established and started operation in 1927. They operate sightseeing tours over the Grand Canyon. Its main base is Grand Canyon National Park Airport. Their bag with a rubber stamp was sold at €23.79.

A further Brazilian airline is VASP. Price came up to €23.61 which is rank #40.

A plastic bag in orange and pink from AeroPeru came in at a price of €22.71.

Air Plus Comet, which started operation in 1997 and which is based in Madrid services 13 destinations in Central and South America. In January 2007 they changed name in Air Comet. Because of the new name and new corporate design they issued a new bag, which came in as rank # 42, #44 and #45 at prices of €22.22, €22.00 and €21.10.

An early bag from the 1980s from Chinese CAAC came in as #43 at a price of €22.09.

FlugServiceBerlin is a German airline I could not find too much information. As to the seller of this bag FlugServiceBerlin from East Berlin used to fly aircrafts such as Antonov 2s in the 1990s. Price of their bag came in at €21.76.

Ocean Air is currently the # 1 under the Brazilian regional airlines. Based in Rio de Janeiro they were established in 1998 and serve 30 destinations from Rio along the eastern length of Brazil. Price was €21.25.

And finally at rank #48 we find a Brazilian airline again which is Rio Sul at a price of €20.07.

This was all for 3rd quarter of 2007.

As far as I can see now last quarter of 2007 market for barf bags at Ebay shows a slowdown.

More details will be available in my report which will be issued in January 2008.

- Gerd Clemens

Still looking for a present for the baggist in your life?

2007-12-20T19:40:00.000+01:00

Want to show the baggist in your life how much you care?

Then nip down to your nearest IKEA furniture store and pick up a MAREK lamp.

Modelled on the iconic DeSter block-bottomed barfbag, this lamp has a metal base and a sturdy paper shade. It's sealed at the top to make it easy to hand to the cabin crew without leakage, and features a handy thumbhole to let you hang it on the wall.

The MAREK lamp stands 96 cm tall, including the optional wheels - something that no airline has ever thought of adding to its barfbags.

The lamp comes in a variety of attractive colours, including American Airlines plain white, United blue, Sky yellow, Bali Air purple, USAir red, and Aero Lyon green.

This initial lamp series comes free of any airline logos. But IKEA does sell a set of marker pens that you can use to create your own bag designs. If you do so, don't forget to add a manufacturer's logo in the gusset.

If you can't make it to a bricks-and-mortar IKEA store before Christmas, try ordering online.

Thanks to Wolfgang Franken for sending me such a lamp - a wonderful surprise just before Christmas!

Bagsite of the month, December 2007

2007-12-13T15:50:00.000+01:00

Baggists interested in boosting their East Asian inventory could do worse than visiting this month's Bagsite of the Month: Kanako's Collection, by Japanese collector Kanako Ogawa.

Kanako presents her collection on a handy clickable map showing the regions Asia, Europe, the Mideast, the Americas, Africa and Oceania. The Asia region is the heavyweight: it has some bags that even bulkier collections may lack. But bags from some other regions are a bit thin on the ground: it looks as if Kanako needs some help with her Oceania collection especially.

Bag aficionados should beware of confusion between Kanako's collection and that of fellow Japanese baggist Toshiaki Anan. Both are hosted on the same site, www.airsicknessbags.jp. At 483 bags, Anan's is the bigger collection, ranking 33rd on the world listings; Kanako has amassed a mere 100 bags - enough for 50th place.

The Bagsite of the Month Awards Committee is in a generous mood - it has unanimously decided to send Kanako a free Christmas bagpack to plug some holes in her collection.

The Committee is also drawing up a list of potential awardees for 2008. Please send your suggestions to the Executive Secretary.

"CNN newsman" caught in Baghdad with bags

2007-12-13T08:23:00.001+01:00

The 2002 made-for-TV docudrama Live from Baghdad tells the story of the CNN news crew who broadcast from the Iraqi capital during the 1990 Gulf War.

Of interest to baggists: On his arrival at Baghdad airport, the luggage of Robert Wiener (played by Michael Keaton) is opened by a customs officer. The officer discovers a stash of barfbags in the suitcase. The officer asks Wiener what he does with them, and Wiener replies that he collects them.

Here's another highlight from the dialogue (courtesy IMDB.com):

Customs Inspector: 23 bottles of vodka?
Robert Wiener: There was supposed to be 24. Shit!
Customs Inspector: For personal use?
Robert Wiener: Yeah.
Customs Inspector: You are an alcoholic.
Robert Wiener: You're a customs inspector. We all have our parts to play.

Thanks to Oliver Conradi for this alert.

Conradi invades Dutch airspace

2007-12-12T18:38:00.000+01:00

Hamburg-based baggist Oliver Conradi is within puking distance of the celebrity A-list up there in the frozen swamplands of northern Europe.

North German broadcaster NDR is doing a 30-minute special on bags and baggery - to be broadcast in January 2007. And a Dutch TV station is also doing a feature on his collection.

Oliver promises to inform the bag fraternity of broadcast times so we can all tune in and gawp.

Barfbags don't work at 0G

2007-12-03T13:11:00.000+01:00

And here is the proof.

Thanks to Janusz Tichoniuk for this item.

Bagsite of the month, November 2007

2007-11-12T12:59:00.000+01:00

Monoglot anglophone visitors (that's you plebs wot speak only English) may be disappointed by their visit to this month's Bagsite of the Month, Wolfgang Franken's airsicknessbags.de.

Just three links on the homepage: "Collectors", "Information Deutsch", and "Information English". Is that all? the first-time visitor asks. Just one page of English text, no bagshots, not even a listing of Wolfgang's collection?

Look again. Click on the "Information Deutsch" link, and you'll be rewarded with a much fuller set of information on bags and baggery (try dumping it into Google's translation service to get the gist). Plus a fascinating set of bag pictures in the links on the left side: batches of bags categorized by theme (birds, animals, flowers...), along with a couple of newspaper stories on baggery.

Wolfgang is exceptionally modest about his own sizable collection. You have to dig to find it: try clicking on Collectors, then scrolling down the substantial list of baggists until you find his name. There's still no pictures of the individual bags, but there's a list of items in his collection, plus a list of his swaps, with links to scans in the definitive Baghecht internet collection.

Criticisms? Well, the link to the baggist mailing list still goes to a now-defunct mailing list, rather than its successor, the vibrant barfbags egroup. And it would be nice to see some pictures of Wolfgang's own collection.

Still, Wolfgang's site, one of the oldest in bagdom, is still worth a detour, and perhaps even a return visit, on your travels through bagland.

Bagfest rocks world

2007-11-12T11:26:00.000+01:00

€200 for one? No deal!

Find that rare bag among this lot - and beat other baggists to it

Baggists in the bar. Left to right: Oliver Conradi, Thorsten Hecht, Aidan Stradling, Jaromir Kral, Gerhard Lang, Dr Walter Brinker, Gerd Clemens, Dr David Bradford, Roger Macrae.

Click on the pictures for a closer view.

The sleepy Frankfurt suburb of Schwanheim was rocked to its core over the weekend of 3-4 November 2007, when many of the heavyweights of international sickbagdom converged on the town.

Among them were senior figures who between them in their collections could sport more bags than a fleet of A380s would use in a year. The event was the 22nd annual international aviation enthusiasts' fair - Internationale Tauschtage der Luftfahrt - but this year saw a huge gathering of vomitological luminaries, both in the exhibition hall and in the Kneipe (pub) next door.

Hot news at the fair, and the subject of much discussion, behind-the-scenes wrangling and furious bargaining, were two ancient Deutsche Lufthansa (DDR) bags from the 1950s. The specialist seller - not a sick bag man himself, but a DDR/Interflug collector - wanted 200 Euros each. However, the consensus among the hotly flushed sickbagistas was that this was too high. At the end of the day, no sale was made, but we have his details for future negotiations

At the fair, some senior baggists had tables selling a wide selection of wares. Jaromir Kral from Prague, Hamburger Oliver Conradi, and Dutchman Niek Vermeulen were all doing business, as well as regular bag contributors Ademar and Denir from Brazil. Besides sick bags, you could find all sorts of aviation ephemera on the numerous and well-laden tables. Airliner models featured highly this year, as did timetables, postcards and airline crockery.

After a frantic ferreting feast through boxes and piles around the show, many of the weary baggers repaired next door for a feast of a different kind - well, lunch and a beer. Tips were swapped on bag care and storage, and many a historical anecdote was rehearsed. During the repast, the cunning collectors hatched a plot to organize a joint trip in 2008 to one of the sick bag factories.

As the collectors left the show, holdalls bulging with new sick bag acquisitions, the consensus was that this had been an excellent event, especially so because of the cameraderie and pleasure of meeting face-to-face.

Thanks to Aidan Stradling for this report.

Bagsign

2007-11-02T12:05:00.000+01:00

Gamers can buy this handsome sign to guide fellow gamers to their online bag collections.

Available in a range of formats, the sign is sure to attract hordes of atavars wishing to disgorge their virtual digestive tracts. Order now from the ModelBank - only $25.

Related items also available include a range of foods, a stretcher, and a complete hospital.

Thanks to Steve Silberberg for this alert.

Guinness chucks bags

2007-11-02T11:24:00.001+01:00

The 2008 edition of the hallowed Guinness World Records book has dropped the traditional entry on barfbags.

Longstanding biggest baggist Niek Vermeulen, who has graced the Guinness book since the younger generation of baggists was in nappies, was awarded a complete half-page in the 2007 edition.

But Guinness clearly thinks that the baggist sector has been getting too much publicity, and have dropped Niek and his bags from the latest edition. They seem to view glow-in-the-dark pages and "giant gatefolds" as bigger sales draws than bag collections, however dizzyingly large.

To find out who the Guinness sages now recognize as the world's bagchamp, you have to go online. Visit www.guinnessworldrecords.com and search for "sick bags".

Or if you cannot see the keyboard because you are choking back your tears at the slight to baggery, you can just click here.

Bag a North Pole bag

2007-10-24T16:01:00.001+02:00

Fancy a peek at a polar bear from 30,000 feet?

Baggist Oliver Conradi has just the thing for you: a joyride over the North Pole. Departing Hamburg on 13 May 2008, this flight will fly over the storm-tossed North Sea, the dramatic coastline of Norway and the ice-riven peaks of Spitzbergen before looping around the North Pole in search of Santa. The flight returns to Hamburg the same day via North Cape and Sweden.

For just €2399, this flight will allow you to enjoy an unimpeded view of the frozen wastes, plus a first-class meal and champagne. For a mere €899 you get the same thing, with significantly less legroom and a view of the wing rather than the desolation below.

Hurry now to book your berth at www.missionflightzero.de.

Compare this with the regular SAS flight from Copenhagen to Tokyo (€950 return).

The advantage of flying with Oliver? You don't have to pay for a hotel in exorbitant Tokyo. And you get a special edition barfbag and safety card on board.

Alternatively, you can visit baggist Bruce Kelly in the frozen wastes of Alaska, and pilfer from his burgeoning collection of bags. KLM offers flights from Amsterdam to Anchorage for a mere €943. Bruce and Audrey will doubtless throw in champagne for free in sheer gratitude for any baggist who makes it all the way there.

Bagsite of the month, September/October 2007

2007-10-12T21:42:00.000+02:00

The Bagsite of the Month award does not normally go to a site without any pictures of bags. But the Awards Committee has made an exception this time. The September/October award goes to German-born but Danish-resident Homer Goetz's site, www.airsicknessbags.dk.

A visit to this site is worthwhile for two reasons: one, to wonder at what appears to be a rhinoceros doing a handstand (pictured on the left). And two, to marvel at the only page in the site: a listing of Homer's bags.

Just a listing? you ask. No pictures?

Yes, but what a listing! This list contains everything from Abaeté Aerotaxi to Zip Air, with no less than 41 Lufthansa bags and 59 Virgin Atlantic variations in between. There's even a handy checkbox against each airline showing whether Homer has extra bags to swap - though not which one of the 59 Virgins he has available.

The only thing that Homer has to do to improve the site further is to provide scans of thPublish Postis lot. Perhaps this award (and the associated media attention and huge cash payout) will spur him to do so.

Why two months for Homer? Because the Awards Committee has been moving house, and regular internet connections have only just been restored. We resume normal service in November.

Bagsite of the month, August 2007

2007-08-08T18:02:00.000+02:00

Bagsite of the Month for August 2007 is Michael Cooper's site.

Michael (on the right in the picture) is a retired University of Berkeley professor who lends a bit of academic kudos to the profession of baggery.

He has a small collection, but he claims to have stolen all the bags himself, from planes he has flown on (no swaps, no purchases, no scrounging bags from ground crew).

Worth a visit to his site to watch the CBS news video of his collection.

Bagdesign book is must-have

2007-08-08T17:16:00.000+02:00

Eine Welt voller Tüten: Abfalltüten aus Flugzeugen

Tina Strube, 2007

Fachhochschule Münster, Germany

An exquisitely presented, 266-page homage to the barfbag by Ms Strube, a design student at the Technical College in Münster, Germany. Based on Thorsten Hecht's collection, this book displays hundreds of bags and their design details, traces the history of each airline's bag design.

In German, but don't let that put you off if you don't speak the language. The pictures and the design speak for themselves.

Hardcopies not available. Click here to download PDFs.

The Clemens ebay report for Apr-Jun 2007

2007-07-29T17:04:00.000+02:00

"Dear baggists,
The development for air sickness bags at Ebay is on a change.
In course of the last 12 months prices for bags have gone up considerably and we can find 2 different kinds of auctions. First category is auctions with “ordinary” bag which are almost ignored. Now and then a bag is bought by the bidder hoping to get a variety.
Prices for these bags are far below €10. Second category is bags which are a “bit special”. Immediately the race starts and almost none of these auctions end at final bids lower than €20.
Even that I do not report about auctions lower than €20 you do not miss too much, as prices between €10 and €20 have become seldom now.
Let me start my report with 2 large collections.

An American offered a collection of 134 bags which included older bags. Final price for this collection was US$ 405 which is roughly €300.

An English collector put more than 300 of his spares on sale. Also here final bid was at about €330. I spoke with the buyer of these bags and he described it as a good buy.

Let me start now with the ranking for the period April to June 2007 as far as I could catch it.

Number 1 is a bag from Uganda Airlines at a price of €122.84. This former Uganda flag carrier went out of business in May 2001. Several local, regional and international firms expressed an interest in taking over but all later pulled out.
Everest Air came in as runner up at a final bid of €70.60. This airline was originally formed as Nepal Air Charter Service in 1992. Everest operated scheduled flights with Dornier aircrafts within Nepal. It was made defunct in 1998.
Freedom Air is an airline based in Guam which operates scheduled passenger services with Shorts and Piper aircrafts. Bag of this airline came in at # 3 at a price of €67.
In this period bags from Mexico have been very successful. First from this country is a bag from Republicair, an airline based at the Queretaro International Airport which was founded in 2005. The airline is currently out of service, one reason for a price of €57.73, bringing it to rank 4.
TAE Trabajos Aereos y Enlaces was on sale several times now. In this quarterly period price went up to €57.
Novaair is a Mexican airline based at Cancun International Airport. Price of their plastic bag was €56.73, which is rank # 6.
Kenyan Five Forty Aviation Ltd puts their numbers on a black plastic bag not very attractive but a rare one. Final bid of €56.10 is a proof of this.
On rank # 8 we find the low-fare airline Volaris which is based in the city of Toluca (Mexico City). Volaris’ first flight took place in March 2006. The name Volaris is a fusion between the word volar (to fly) and the North Star Polaris. Their financial background seems to be good as they just ordered about 20 Airbuses. And their air sickness bags needs a good financial background too; price was €55.73.
Not to believe on rank # 9 and # 10 is Mexico again. Click is the name of this low-cost carrier based in Mexico City. The airline started operation as Aerocaribe in 1975. In 1990 it was aquired by Mexicana de Aviacion. They serve now 23 Mexican cities. Prices were €55.73 and 54.73.
What do you think comes now? Allegro Air from Mexico! Since 1992 Allegro operates usually charters between USA and Mexico. Price was €54.73 and in a direct sale at a price of €53.73 which is rank# 15.
Tunisavia has his main hub at Aeroport de Tunis- Carthage. They were founded in 1974. Their bag came in as # 12 at a price of €54.14.
Air Jamaica was in the short list also in the first quarter of 2007. This time cost was €54.02.
Santa Barbara Airlines is an airline in Caracas, Venezuela, which was founded in 1995. 14 bids were made bringing price to €54.
Air Martinique is another airline from Central America. They ceased operation in 2000 then a fusion with Air Guadeloupe and two other airlines took place which formed Air Caraibes. Price for this bag was €51.19.
Bags from Korean Air are normally described as ordinary bags. But the offered bag showed a very different design which makes it so interesting to spent €47.90.
Son Air Airline Services is a subsidiary of the Angola state run petroleum enterprise Sonangol. This name is printed on a plastic bag used for flights mainly between Angola and USA. Despite the fact that such a bag was offered in the past price with €47.34 is still high.
Some years ago US Air spend a red bag with their name. Price now was €46.03.
On rank #20 we find the Indian airline Damania Airways. Their name now is NEPC which really does not sound nice. Price came up to €45.11.
Almost each province in Indonesia has his own airline. This is also the case for Riau Airlines which operates with 6 Fokker 50. The company is wholly owned by the government of Riau which is a province in Sumatra. Bags from this airline seam to be rare as the came in with prices of €42.59 and in another auction at €42.30 which are ranks # 21 and 23.
The Bangladesh airline Biman showed a new design bringing price up to €42.32.
A bag with blue planes from the former GDR flag carrier Interflug was sold at a price of €201 in August 2006. Such a bag was on auction again. This bag was kept as souvenir from a flight from Halle to Budapest in 1962 and when some clearing work was necessary bag was found by the son of the early passenger. Thanks to Ebay the bag was not thrown away but put on sale. Seller was very pleased about the unexpected result of €41.60 and the buyer was pleased too, as he got this rare bag at about a fifth of the previous price. Guess who it was?
A never-seen-before design on a Sunways bag found interest at €37.65. Also this Swedish airline which operated from 1995 to 1997 is gone.
Now we find a row of bags from ABAETE AEROTAXI, a Brazilian carrier. At prices of €35.23, €34.73 and €33.33 they came in as ranks # 26 to 28.
CAAC stands for General Administration of Civil Aviation of China, which managed all non-military aviation in mainland China since November 1949. Two bags with different designs came in our ranking, one bag at €34.18 and the other at €31.20, which are ranks # 29 and 36.
On rank #30 we find a bag from TAME, which is an airline from Ecuador. The blue plastic bag shows 4 aeroplanes on front and an advertisement for beer on the back. Price for the bag was €33,50.
From time to time a bag from the former French carrier UTA comes on sale. Because of small variations prices are always high. Last quarter price came up to €32.77.
Aviogenex is an airline based in Belgrade, Serbia, which was established in 1968. Due to UN sanctions international flights were suspended from 1992 to 1994 followed by the Kosovo conflict forcing them to cease operation again. They restarted in Nov 2000 again and it is planned that airlines will fly under the flag of Serbia and Sudan from Khartoum to 25 destinations on the west coast of Africa. What a change. Price for 2 different bags was €32.42.
Cameroon Airlines is an airline with a high number of variations which is caused by the fact that they are very long in service now. The airline was established in 1971 and is owned by the Cameroon Government. In Sept 2005 the French civil aviation banned flights to France because of safety reasons and bad maintenance which let to financial problems. Cameroon Airlines is currently reorganizing its operations to improve overall performance. Price of their bag was €32.26.
Another African airline is Air Malawi which came in as number 34 and at a price of €31.90.
TAN Transportes Aereos Neuquen is an Argentinean airline which operated from 1980 to 1990. Price of the bag was €31.67.
The Chinese airline Xiamen Airlines, established in July 1984 was the first airline company in PR of China run by private individuals. Today 60% of the shares belong to China Southern 40% to the local Xiamen Construction and Development Group. The bag was bought at €31.20.
Travira Air is one of the countless Indonesian Airlines. This one is an air charter company based in Jakarta which operates charter flights between Indonesian cities and Asian countries with more than 20 years of operational experience. Price was €31.11.
Has anyone of you ever heard of euralair? It was not surprising that a bag from this defunct airline was bought at a price of €30.98. But what is euralair? The company was founded in 1964 as Air Taxi Company. Later it operated as charter airline based in France which served also West Africa. In Nov. 2003 euralair had to file for bankruptcy protection. In Feb. 2004 they restarted as Air Horizons, which ceased operations in Nov. 2005 because of financial problems.
On rank # 40 we find a bag from Surinam Airways, based in Paramaribo, at a price of €29.23.
CUA stands for China United Airlines which is based on Beijing Nanyuan Airport a former military airfield. It was established in 1986 as arm of People’s Liberation Army civil transport division. Due to new regulations airline suspended operations and was reconstructed by Shanghai Airlines, which holds now 80% of the stake. Price was €29.06.
The national airline of Botswana is Air Botswana. Established in 1972 it operates between Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Price of the bag was €29.43.
Tikal Jet started as Guatemala’s national airline was. Later they were considered as Central America’s first low cost carrier. But it seems that costs were not low enough forcing them to cease operation in Aug. 2006. Price for their bag was €28.03.
TABA stands for Transportes Aereos Regionais de Bacia Amazonica which operated from 1976 to 2001. A plastic bag from this airline was sold at €27.35.
Wings Air started operation mid of 2003 as domestic passenger airline based in Jakarta. They are now owned 100% by Lion Air. But their red bag is different and with additional information bringing price up to €27.15.
On rank# 46 we find China Eastern, one of the important Chinese airlines with a lot of different air sickness bags. Price for a seldom piece came up to €27.14.
A Swedish operator for charter flights to Canary Islands and Phuket is Novair. The airline was established in Nov. 1997 and is wholly owned by Kuoni Travel Group. Their bag came in at €27.10.
Tajik Air formerly known as Tajikistan Airline is the national carrier of Tajikistan. The price for this fine bag was €26.61.
Not green or yellow was the colour for an Air Zimbabwe bag but black and red. And this was the reason that price came up to €24.71.
On rank # 50 at €24.60 we find the not well known StarFlyer from Japan. This airline was founded as Kobe Airlines end of 2002. In May 2003 name was changed to StarFlyer, which operates as low cost carrier mainly from Kobe’s new Kitakyusha Airport to Tokyo Haneda.
Paramount Airways, not the new established Indian airline, but the old defunct British carrier, which was established in 1986 came in next. This airline flew mainly between UK and Spain. In 1990 Paramount was forced to cease operation. Bag was sold at €24.60.
The Portuguese charter airline Air Sul operated just between 1991 and 1992. Their plastic bag was sold at €24.43.
Not much to my surprise Hong Kong Express Airways was founded in Hong Kong. At the beginning in 2004 Express served just 5 cities in mainland China. But in the meantime one can find a lot of other destinations within China and South East Asia. Hainan Airlines acquired 45% of shares in Aug. 2006. Price for a bag was €24.23.
Conviasa from Venezuela is on sale regularly. This time it came in as # 54 and # 60 at prices of €23.50 and €20.05 resp.
Vladivostok Air also Vladivostok Avia started operations in 1994 and in 2003 it merged with Khakasia Airlines. It operates scheduled domestic flights and international flights to China, Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam. 2 bags were on sale at prices of €22.39 and €21.89.
A red bag from Indonesian carrier Lion Air was sold at €21.60.
For a bag from Cambodia Angkor Airline, €21.32 was paid.
SASCA stand for the Venezuelan airline Servicios Aereos Sucre which was founded in 1992. Dramamine is written on their bag, which originally is a formula against motion sickness. This bag was sold at €20.63, which is rank 59.

This is all what I could find at EBAY in the period March to June 2007.

Kind regards,"

Gerd Clemens

All the news that's fit to print

2007-07-15T19:26:00.000+02:00

From Alaska; Anchorage Daily News -14 July 2007

Bruce Kelly, CEO for Kelly's World of Airsickness Bags has categorically denied rumours of a hostile takeover of bagstage.org by CEO baggist Walter Brinker. "There is no truth to the rumours wildly circulating in the baggist world.....in fact, I believe Mr. Brinker has been secretly buying up large blocks of Kelly's World publicly traded stock and may be himself planning a hostile takeover of my operation,.... but we have the means to stop any such action by Mr. Brinker" states Mr. Kelly. However, baggist Kelly has admitted that he has secretly coveted Mr. Brinker's Air Guinée bag for many years.

The once genteel barf bag world that once operated on trust and trading amongst fellow collectors has been rocked in recent years by soaring prices for barf bags. Prices have escalated by some sources by as much as 1000%. A large number of barf bag speculators have entered the market hoping for quick returns on their money. Several international pension funds are now investing in the quite lucrative barf bag trade and are seeing annual returns of 40% or more on their money. The New York Stock Exchange recently suspended trading in Bagophily.com and Baghecht.de stock for one day when trading became over-heated.

Unfortunately, such speculative forces have also attracted the criminal element. Recently a man with multiple criminal convictions was apprehended by Danish police when he attempted to fence a stolen and very rare Royal Swazi Airlines barf bag belonging to Danish collector Mr. Homer Goetz. He had apparently by-passed Mr. Goetz's elaborate home security system by tunneling into his house. The Royal Swazi bag was returned to a quite disgruntled Mr. Goetz who found new coffee stains on the bag.

German resident and baggist, Mr. Paul Mundy reported a daring, daylight robbery attempt of his extremely rare first edition Batavia bag at his home. Fortunately Mr. Mundy thwarted the attempt with a show of force with his Smith & Wesson firearm. "Thank God, I lived in the USA for some years and was trained in the use of firearms", reported Mr. Mundy, who is presently facing charges for possession of a concealed weapon in the not so liberal German legal system that does not seem to recognize USA Constitutional 2nd Amendment rights.

American baggist Steve Silberberg reported a mentally unbalanced man had thrown acid on several of his bags being exhibited at the American Baywatch television show auditions. "I'm devastated, the Air Vietnam bag was the only one in existence and was irreplaceable at any price" reported a quite distraught Mr. Silberberg.

A man asked to use baggist Bob Grove's bathroom and walked off with 5 rare bags. Mr. Grove's bathroom and bedroom designs have consistently won home designer awards for their unique and tasteful use of individually framed barf bags. An enraged Mr. Grove refused to identify the stolen bags for this article, but commented... "let's just say they were not current British Airways bags, eh?".

Where will this madness end? It's anyone's guess, but the market could soon experience a downturn as some speculators are now turning their attention to airline swizzle sticks.

Bagsite of the month, July 2007

2007-07-14T14:58:00.000+02:00

The latest site to receive the coveted Bagsite of the Month accolade is Kotztuete.net.

This small but attractively presented collection is curated by Martin Zeil and Thomas Krämer.

Divided into German, European and non-European bags, the site displays just 49 bags clickable thumbnails, which lead to full-sized scans of the bags. A useful resource if you want to inspect the Futura logo in all its glorious detail. And can anyone identify the Portuguese bag in the non-European section advertising World Environment Day?

When you're through clicking on thumbnails, you can check out the Zeppelin bag (plain white, but signed by the craft's pilots), and waste at least five more minutes trying to make the green menu buttons (pictured left) spin round faster.

Then be sure to leave a message to Martin and Thomas in the Guest Book.

The menus are in German, but this should not pose a major problem for experienced bagsurfers - since according to bagophily.com's records, no less than 7 of the top 10 bag collections worldwide are either owned by Germans or are located in Germany.

Baggist a week late for bagfest

2007-07-14T13:26:00.000+02:00

An experienced British baggist has turned up late for the annual Frankfurt bagfest.

A whole week late.

"Following instructions", says David Bradford, "I visited Frankfurt for the Summer Swap-Meet on 24 June, only to find I was a week too late!"

"Understanding my plight, I was rescued by Gerd Clemens", says David. "We had a mini bag-swap over breakfast at our hotel."

The top photo shows Gerd (left) trying to exchange a sackful of 2007 Lufthansa and KLM bags for one of David's priceless 1950s specimens.

"So that you will realize we are not completely obsessed by sick bags I have also enclosed a photograph of our visit to the Opera," says David. Though I suspect it was all part of another attempt by Gerd to relieve David of his prize bags.

Bags on the box

2007-07-13T10:50:00.000+02:00

Hamburg-1, a TV station serving the north German city, raided baggist Oliver Conradi's collection on 12 July. The results will be aired on 19 July at 17:45, 18:45 and again at 21:45.

Can't get the Hamburg-1 channel on your TV? Then book a flight to Hamburg. Germanwings serves the local airport, while Ryanair flies to nearby Lübeck.

Hambagger

2007-07-08T19:31:00.000+02:00

Mark your diary: German baggist Oliver Conradi is planning an airline convention on Sunday 17 February 2008 at Hamburg Airport.

The convention is planned for the airport terminal, now an event location known as Terminal Tango. The old baggage reclaim belts are still working as a special promotion.

"There are 300 tables available", says Oliver: "€35 for private sellers, €50 for professional sellers."

Interested in booking a table? Contact Oliver.

"We're trying to get reduced tickets from Easyjet, Swiss, Germanwings and Emirates (including on US flights). Same for hotels," he says.

Air sickness takeover fever

2007-06-25T21:40:00.000+02:00

A major firm lacks a key marketing outlet, while another firm has spare capacity. The result: a takeover bid. That is common in the commercial world, but almost unknown in the shadowy parallel universe of bag-collecting.

Until now.

In an unprecedented move, baghecht.de, an innovative joint bagsite of German collectors Thorsten Hecht and Gerhard Lang, has expanded further: it now features bags from fellow German baggist Gerd Clemens.

"We've started out by featuring particularly beautiful or rare items from Gerd's collection", says webadmin Thorsten Hecht. "Gradually we'll include his whole collection on our site."

This move brings together three of the world's top 11 collections under one roof - similar to the alliances that now dominate the airline industry, and conglomerates such as Duni and DeSter that lead the barfbag manufacturing sector.

Will the HechtLang Clemens tie-up lead to further consolidation in baggery? Rumours swirl of a transatlantic tie-up between airsicknessbags.com and airsicknessbags.dk, and of a takeover bid by newly established kellysairsicknessbags.com for fellow newcomer bagstage.org.

Meanwhile, publicity-shy market leader Niek Vermeulen continues to deny persistent gossip of a marriage with similarly web-averse second-placed Oliver Conradi.

Proponents of such conglomerates should beware the lessons of history: European and American anti-trust regulators may start nosing around bag collections they deem too large and in breach of competition policy.

In other news, baghecht.de has also announced a new sideline in life jackets. Unclear how many passengers have drowned as a result of these items being removed from the aircraft. Or whether they are for exchange against barfbags.

The ideal 60th birthday present

2007-06-20T16:47:00.000+02:00

It's always worth browsing YouTube for keywords such as "barfbag" and "air sickness bag". You might come up with gems such as the two on the left, which show a lucky 60-year-old bag aficionado displaying some prize items to a rapt audience of party guests. And opening a present to find it's one of Steve Silberberg's eminently collectible bagposters.

In case you missed it first time, you can also view CNN's report on Virgin Atlantic's admirable Design for Chunks "Limited Edition" series - probably the only time that barfbags have ever been covered on a major news network.

Click on the pictures to view the videos.

Aَirline threatens baggist with "necessary steps"

2007-06-20T12:07:00.000+02:00

Cape Verde airline TACV doesn't like its logo appearing on Januscz Tichoniuk's bag collection website.

The airline has threatened the Polish baggist with "all necessary steps" if he does not remove the logo.

Strange that the airline is concerned about its corporate identity in eastern Europe: TACV does not fly to Poland. And when bagophily.com's team of investigators visited the carrier's website, it was down: "Server does not exist or access denied". Maybe the airline's executives should focus more on its online availability to potential passengers, and less on people who steal its bags?

In a gesture of solidarity with Janusz, we reproduce the TACV logo on the left.

TACV is not the first bag purveyor to threaten a baggist with legal action. Airsicknessbags.com proprietor Steve Silberberg reports he received a letter from a vice-president of the US cable channel A&E, threatening various unspecified actions if he did not remove a promotional bag from his site. He responded by suggesting that the media might be interested in the story: "TV network sues barf bag collector". Sadly, A&E did not pursue the case.

Update (20 Jun 07)

In a touching and unprecedented display of solidarity, other baggists have begun putting the TACV logo on their websites. The brave baggists include Walter Brinker, David Shomper, Rune Tapper and Steve Silberberg.

World Airline Historical Society founder dies

2007-06-15T17:42:00.000+02:00

Wednesday, 13 June 2007

Paul Collins who founded the World Airline Hobby Club some 30 years ago and saw it become the World Airline Historical Society of today, passed away peacefully this morning at 8:10 EDT.

He lost his battle with cancer and diabetes on this his 68th birthday.

I'll personally miss Paul as he was like a brother to me. We shared lots of time together (not enough) and our innermost thoughts including those about mortality. The hobby has lost a great supporter.

Paul will be cremated and no services will be held except the possibility of a memorial service in the future and I'll notify everyone if that happens.

If you'd like to send a condolence card to Mrs. Collins and her Daughter, please send to Pat and Paula Collins, 13739 Picarsa Dr., Jacksonville, FL 32225, USA.

- Denir Camargo

Vintage bags

2007-06-11T15:28:00.000+02:00

If you're looking for vintage bags of the non-barf variety, then Vintage Depot Direct is well worth a visit. This online shop offers what it describes as "antique advertising and vintage collectibles". Including a whole section of ancient bags.

No airline barfbags available, sadly, and the closest thing to a barfbag is the "Blood Circus Scream Bag" to the left. Which can be yours for a mere $3.99 plus postage and packing.

So if, like me, you have a stack of Air France or Lufthansa bags you can't get rid of for love or money, my recommendation is just to keep them for a few decades. In 50 years' time, they'll be worth a fortune.

Thanks to Steve Silberberg for this alert.

Dirty socks? Wash them with Barf

2007-06-11T11:44:00.000+02:00

For "Extra cleaning power" and a "Fresh perfume" smell, choose Barf detergent.

This Iranian washing powder is suited for handwashing and top-loading machines only. Don't use it in front loaders.

Barf, or "برف" means "snow" in Farsi. An apt name for a detergent.

Dog bag rejected, US economy continues free fall

2007-06-10T19:40:00.000+02:00

For a glimpse at why the US economy is heading for the cliff's edge, look no further than the American Inventor reality TV show.

This show pits inventors against each other in a competition for hard cash to invest in their pet projects. Inventors have come up with such items as pictures that change colours when you pee on them, bibs to use in the car, and devices to douse burning Christmas trees in water. All of which are going to see off the challenge from Asia's rising economies.

The most promising invention was the Arf Bag - a barfbag for carsick dogs. Inventor Kim Douglas's creation looks like a gas mask. Sadly, the judges didn't like it, so she didn't progress to the next round.

Kinetosis-prone canines will have to throw up onto the back seat for the foreseeable future.

Thanks to Steve Silberberg for this alert.

Hindenburg bag

2007-06-04T17:41:00.000+02:00

The Japanese TV show is said to have featured a barfbag from the Hindenburg

Could a bag have survived this?

If a charred envelope can fetch $14,000, how about a mint-condition barfbag?

A barfbag from the doomed airship Hindenburg has turned up on a Japanese antiques show.

Or has it?

The Daily Yomiuri Online alerts readers to a Tuesday evening programme on TV Tokyo called Family Treasure Appraisers (or Nandemo kanteidan in Japanese). This "allows collectors to seek elusive objects and the public to learn the the value of family heirlooms as the at-home viewer contemplates life's forgotten artifacts and oddities. The show's research department provides interesting background information on some of the more newsworthy objects such as their recent report on a set of china, drink canister and barf bag brought back from a 1936 trip on the Hindenburg--all in perfect condition."

The Hindenburg, a German airship, burst into flames at Lakehurst, New Jersey, on 6 May 1937, killing 35 people on board. Some 61 passengers and crew survived the disaster.

The Family Treasure Appraisers (or "We'll Appraise Anything") programme, the Japanese equivalent of the BBC's Antiques Roadshow, has a panel of experts who value objects brought to the studio by celebrities and members of the public. It is moderated by Ishizaka Koji (a well-known Japanese actor) and Shimada Shinsuke. The programme with the purported Hindenburg bag was broadcast on 15 May 2007.

This programme included a valuation of 27 items from the Hindenburg, owned by a Mrs Otani, whose great-grandfather previously owned them. The "agreed value" (whatever that means) was 100,000 yen (about EUR 610), and the "evaluated value" was 800,000 yen (about EUR 4880; this is revealed if you click on the "open the price" button on the site).

However, baggist Homer Goetz casts doubt on the possibility that a barfbag was among the 27 items on the show.

"There not have been barf bags on board of these huge air ships like the Hindenburg", he says. "The airships did not fly but sail, and to signalize passengers that sailing on an airship was extremely safe and a comfortable alternative for flying, there could not be sicknessbags on board. That was the result of my correspondence 4 years ago with people from Zeppelin museum in Friedrichshafen, which included a steward from Hamburg, who was sailing as a young man on the Hindenburg."

If a barfbag was aboard, it could be worth a lot of money. Mail recovered from the crash fetches high prices - up to US$ 14,000 - among philatelists.

If you'd like to check the current availability of bags on board current-day airships, you can book a flight on the Zeppelin that does aerial tours over its home base of Friedrichshafen, in southern Germany. A mere EUR 200 will allow you to snaffle all the bags on board - if there are any.

Bagsite of the Month, June 2007

2007-05-30T21:02:00.001+02:00

Winner of the coveted Bagsite of the Month award for June is Christian Becker's kotztueten.de site.

This German collector's attractively designed site features links to the airlines whose bags are represented.

So it you decide you'd like one of those attractive Air Vegas bags you see on his site, just click on the logo and you jump straight to the airline's site so you can book your flight.

Er, actually, you don't... Air Vegas ceased operations in 2004, and the link now goes to a the site of a firm offering tours of the Grand Canyon.

So it looks as if the only place you can see that Air Vegas bag is now on kotztueten.de.

A word of caution on the bagnumbers Christian claims to have. According to the site, he has 22 Air Berlin bags, though only 3 are displayed on kotztueten.de (and according to exhaustive research by bagophily.com's indefatigable team of researchers, only 8 different Air Berlin bags exist). Perhaps Christian is somewhat unconventionally counting all the bags in his possession, not just the unique items?

For those sad souls who collect safety cards (thereby endangering their fellow passengers by depriving them of vital information that could save lives in an inflight emergency), kotztueten.de also features a small safety card collection. Along with handy links to the manufacturers who build the airborne deathtraps that make safety cards such a vital part of your onboard experience.

Storing and displaying bags

2007-05-30T15:16:00.000+02:00

June sees the start of a major new series on bagophily.com: how baggists store and display their collections.

These topics bring up major technical issues (how best to store fragile bags from the dawn of commercial aviation?) as well as revealing deep psychological and social fissures in our society.

Perhaps fearful of dinnertime conversations turning to regurgitated stomach contents somewhere between the main course and dessert, baggist wives (inexplicably, most baggists are male) seem to banish collections from their living rooms to the more inaccessible recesses of the nuptial abode.

German baggist Walter Brinker has his collection in a different building.

Dutch baggist Niek Vermeulen even lives on a different continent from his collection - which is housed in a freezing basement on the Belgian/Dutch border, while Niek spends most of the time he isn't away stealing bags in sultry Manila.

My own collection is housed in the living room, but nearly caused a divorce when I used it to decorate the apartment one Christmas. Unimpressed by my plea that bags were aesthetic additions to standard festive fare, my wife refused to speak to me until all the bags I had lovingly strung up were safely back in their file boxes.

San Diego baggist Bob Grove has no such problems. He has framed much of his collection - some 632 bags - and displays them around his house.

"They hang on the walls of the three bathrooms", says Bob. "They have taken over a spare bedroom. I am pretty much out of wall space. I will not let them invade the dining room."

Sharp-eyed fellow-collectors will note a few prize items on display: ARP 410 Airlines, Surinam Airways, a bright red Empire, and ancient MAS and Gulf Air bags.

All this in San Diego - the new place of pilgrimage for the baggist confraternity.

Click here for more.

Want an old bag? Talk to your boss

2007-05-25T07:08:00.001+02:00

"My boss (she comes from Iceland), brought me this bag - from 1950 - the first flight from Icelandair", says lucky baggist Oliver Conradi. "She thought it might enliven my collection."

Oliver is right about the bag - it's an exceptionally well preserved specimen for the period (something to do with Iceland's climate?). And it's the only known Icelandair bag to have something in Icelandic on it: Flugfélag Íslands H.F. (the firm's name).

Oliver's boss says she flew with the newly named Icelandair as a small child in 1950, and saved the bag between some books (hence the excellent condition).

The Icelandic name Flugfélag Íslands stems from 1943. I've been unable to trace when the winged horse logo on this bag was replaced by the current logo. Can anyone help?

Nul points

2007-05-24T16:45:00.000+02:00

"England is going to win the Eurovision contest this year, at least in the sick bag category, with his very kitsch song and videoclip," says French baggiste Gilles Beger. "It's here (you don't have to watch the whole thing as I did to see a bag, go to the end): http://www.dailymotion.com/
video/x1vb55_eurovision-2007-scooch It's going to happen saturday night in Helsinki. Good news for France indeed."

(Copy and paste the URL above into your browser: there's a block on putting a direct link into this posting.)

For those baggists unfamiliar with the Eurovision contest, "Nul points" is what you get for a truly awful song. This score has been achieved by a surprising number of countries over the history of the contest. See www.nul-points.net for details.

Thanks to Gilles for this item, and apologies if you had to sit through the whole 3 minutes in order to see the barfbag.

Come back Lordi, all is forgiven...

Update: The British song came second from bottom of the 24 entries in the contest. A richly deserved failure. But think of what might have been: if the song had not featured a barfbag, it would undoubtedly have clinched last place with the coveted nul points.

Another update: If you have broadband, you can also see a better definition video at www.scooch.co.uk. I strongly advise you to turn the sound off before clicking on this link.

The bag that Scooch member Russ Spencer offers to a passenger in the video appears to have a Scooch logo on it - the same as on the tailfin of the plane that appears at the beginning and end of the video. The bags also appear in the seat pockets during one of the choreography sequences during the video. Anyone know if this bag is available for collectors?