Bags

Description

A bag, also known regionally as a sack, is a common tool in the form of a floppy container, typically made of cloth, leather, bamboo, paper, or plastic. The use of bags predates recorded history, with the earliest bags being lengths of animal skin, cotton, or woven plant fibers, folded up at the edges and secured in that shape with strings of the same material.^[1] Bags can be used to carry items such as personal belongings, groceries, tools, and other objects. They come in various shapes and sizes, often equipped with handles or straps for easier carrying.

Bags have been fundamental for the development of human civilization, as they allow people to easily collect and carry loose materials, such as berries or food grains, while also allowing them to carry more items in their hands.^[1]

The English word probably originates from the Norse word baggi,^[2] from the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European bʰak, but is also comparable to the Welsh baich (load, bundle), and the Greek Τσιαντουλίτσα (Chandulícha, load).

Cheap disposable paper bags and plastic shopping bags are very common, varying in size and strength in the retail trade as a convenience for shoppers, and are often supplied by the shop for free or for a small fee. Customers may also take their own shopping bag(s) to use in shops.

Bags have been attested for thousands of years, and bags have also been used by men, women, and children of all ages. Bags have been prevalent as far back as Ancient Egypt. Many hieroglyphs depict males with bags tied around their waists. Bags encasing cosmetic sticks from the Bronze Age, around 2000 BCE, have been excavated in the Xiaohe Cemetery in China.^[3] The Bible mentions pouches, especially with regard to Judas Iscariot carrying one around, holding his personal items, in the first century. In the 14th century, wary of pickpockets and thieves, many people used drawstring bags to carry their money. These bags were attached to girdles via a long cord fastened to the waist.

The Australian dillybag is a traditional Australian Aboriginal bag generally woven from plant fibres. Dillybags were and are mainly designed and used by women to gather and transport food, and are most commonly found in the northern parts of Australia.^[4]

Although paper had been used for wrapping and padding in Ancient China since the 2nd century BC,^[5] the first use of paper bags in China (for preserving the flavor of tea) came during the later Tang dynasty (618–907 AD).^[5]

In medieval Europe, women also wore more ornate drawstring bags, typically called hamondeys or tasques, to display their social status. The 14th-century handbags evolved into wedding gifts from groom to bride. These medieval pouches were embroidered, often with depictions of love stories or songs. Eventually, these pouches evolved into what were known as a chaneries, which were used for gaming or food for falcons. During the Renaissance, Elizabethan England’s fashions were more ornate than ever before. Women wore their pouches underneath the vast array of petticoats and men wore leather pockets or bagges inside their breeches. Aristocrats began carrying swete bagges filled with sweet-smelling material to make up for poor hygiene.^[6]

Indigenous tribes in what would become the United States and Canada made the parfleche, a bag or container made of buffalo rawhide and decorated with pigments. The use of this bag was to hold objects, whether that was when they were migrating to another place or they were established in a certain area. The parfleche is made by Indigenous women as an art of expression and symbolism. The symbols engage with Indigenous perspectives from different tribes.^[7]