Welcome. This is what my wife calls "a bunch of stupid jokes and pictures of paper bags." She's right about the jokes. She's wrong about the bags: some of them are plastic.

What the critics say: "Utterly unnotable" (Wikipedia editor). "Ridiculous collections #4" (Buzzfeed). Other comments: "As complete wastes of time go, it's a very high quality complete waste of time... An entirely dispensable source of inane comments about a truly trivial subject... A monument to the planet's worst corporate design... An unwelcome reminder of some of the more unpleasant moments in our lives."

Donations (unused, please) of bags not represented in the bag gallery are welcomed -- please mail to this address, and I'll credit you on this site! I am happy to trade any extras that I have. Check out the links to other bag sites, find out how you can use your spare bags, and explore the fascinating world of bag manufacturers. 

Highlights: The design features page reveals the secrets of professional baggery, and the logos page analyses the enigma of airline corporate identities. Search for your favourite bag, browse the bag gallery by country and airline, and check out the biggest, best and worst bags!

Cheaper than maintaining the loo?

James Whipple has found a new way to save airlines money

In a further bid to reduce costs, China Southern Airlines is asking passengers to go to the toilet before boarding the aircraft. "The energy used in one flush is enough for an economical car to run at least 10 kilometers", says one China Southern pilot. Utah-based SkyWest Airlines has taken this one step further: they ban passengers from using the lavatory while aloft. During a SkyWest flight from Boise to Salt Lake City, the pilot kept the "fasten seat belts" sign on because the toilet was "out of order". Nothing to do with the sanitary facilities: the light was not working. Desperation leads to creativity. Repeatedly ordered to stay in his seat, passenger James Whipple, who had drunk two large beers before the flight, resorted to peeing in his barfbag. The flight attendant noticed this and reported him to the pilot. When the plane landed at Salt Lake City, police were waiting to interview Mr Whipple for suspected indecent exposure. Congratulations to Mr Whipple for inventing a new use for barfbags, and to SkyWest for saving a litre of precious fuel - and reducing its carbon dioxide emissions. The litre that SkyWest saved through its bathboom ban is about the volume of liquid that a standard barfbag can safely hold. Coincidence? Click here for more on this item.

Sunday, April 15, 2007 

Underbagged

What do Latvia, Liberia and Lesotho have in common? Yes, they all start with an L. What else? They're all missing from my barfbag collection.

What's the biggest country not represented? Chad. In terms of population? Burkina Faso. Other prominent absentees (coloured red in the map): Georgia and Rwanda. 

Major underrepresented portions of the globe are a swathe of Africa and chunks of Central Asia and Central America.

Donations from these areas especially welcome!

Centres of megabagdiversity are the USA (though many US bags are distressingly plain), China, the UK, Canada, Germany, Brazil and Indonesia. 

Click here for details.

For new baggists only

New to the world of bag collecting? Want to get a head start on your collection? Then send me an email, and I'll send you a randomly selected free starter pack from my surplus bag stock. There won't be anything rare, and you may end up with some duplicates, but at least you'll be able to show your friends a few more of these lovely cultural artefacts. Make sure you include your mailing address in your email. Offer good as long as stocks last.

This is where old news goes when it's too old to be news.

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