What’s hidden in your suitcase?
By Bill Duncan
The View From Here
I don’t have much luck at finding bargains. At a garage sale I spied a beautiful leather briefcase, just the thing for me to carry items I would need when traveling. Problem was it had a combination lock and the owner admitted he didn’t know the combination. I bought it for $5 on the gamble I could use my logic in figuring out the combination.
After about 50 tries it popped open on a simple 1,2,3,4 combination. The case was empty — well almost. Tucked in a side pocket I discovered a marijuana pipe and a pouch of what I assumed was marijuana.
That ended any dreams of traveling with that briefcase for fear a drug sniffing dog would have me in handcuffs and what judge would believe my story about how I came to own the briefcase.
I have relegated the briefcase to a storage case for old, mellow columns and it sits under my desk. Should I die at my typewriter, I hope my kin will not put it up for sale in an estate clearance and have my good name tainted by marijuna residue.
This is not to say there aren’t bargains out there. I read about bargain hunters of lost treasures from around the world at an unusual place in Scottsboro, Alabama where unclaimed luggage from airlines, trains, buses, ships and luggage left at hotels is sold.
This unusual store, called simply enough, Unclaimed Luggage Center, was started in 1970 by Doyle and Sue Owens as a part-time business. It prospered beyond their expectations and in 1995 they sold the business to their son, Bryan, who expanded it into a bargain center that stretches over a city block.
He has gone on-line at www.unclaimedluggage.com to sell his inventory. Owens said over one million items pass through the store annually. About 60 percent of the merchandise found in the unclaimed luggage is naturally clothing, but there have been some strange discoveries of stuff that was packed in suitcases.
"An old, well-worn Gucci suitcase had Egyptian artifacts dating to 1500 B.C. inside, including a mummified falcon," Owens said.
Jewelry is another big item found in the unclaimed luggage, including a 5.8 carat diamond ring in one suitcase and in another a small plastic bag with a 40.95 carat emerald. Owens tells about a woman who bought a Barbie doll for her little girl who promptly pulled off its head. "Probably the only thing that kept her from a sound scolding," Owens said, "was the roll of $500 in bills hidden inside the Barbie."
In one suitcase, was a complete, neatly packed parachute, probably from some traveler who just didn’t trust the pilot. Workers even found a complete 19th century suit of armor in an unclaimed piece of luggage. Another unclaimed suitcase contained a live rattlesnake.
The inventory of items inside unclaimed luggage include cameras, electronics, sporting goods, books and designer optics, not to mention the luggage itself.
The vast majority of the items are from luggage which after 90 days is declared unclaimed. The company buys the luggage from the source unopened and until the luggage is opened, doesn’t know if it has a bargain or not, but from the size of the store and the items listed for sale, the luggage does indeed contain treasures from around the world.
On its web site, the company posts some recent sales, a Schwinn double jogging stroller in excellent condition, $40; Ann Taylor slacks (new), $20; Ralph Lauren sweater (new), $25; Juicy Couture purse (retail value $150), $2; a Max Lucado hardbound book, $6.
It would be my luck to buy a locked suitcase on speculation that it held a treasure only to discover it had last been used by a member of Al Qaeda and the Feds would have me under surveillance as a terrorist.
(Bill Duncan can be reached by writing to P.O. Box 812, Roseburg, OR 97470 or via e-mail at elderstatesmansblog@yahoo.com)