FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT LOST BAGS

Fifty years ago, entrepreneur Doyle Owens started the Unclaimed Baggage Center by buying left-behind bags from airlines and transportation companies and selling the best finds to customers. A third of the finds are donated to charity, a third is thrown away and a third is cleaned and put up for sale. Staff have found a bear pelt packed in salt, an Egyptian burial mask packed in a Gucci suitcase, a live rattlesnake and, yes, a kitchen sink. Before the pandemic, Unclaimed Baggage was processing some 7,000 items daily. Here are some examples:

1

Luggage

Not to state the obvious here, but yes, the Unclaimed Baggage store sells a lot of suitcases and other travel essentials such as neck pillows and passport holders. Bag types include, but are not limited to: toiletry, golf-shoe holder, duffel, laptop, crossbody, garment, foldable, wheeled, soft,

leather, hip and more.

2

Carom Lizard-leather embossed pool Cue Picture this: You’re having friends over for game night and someone motions to your pool table. “Hey, that’s an interesting cue you have there,”

your friend says.

You pick up your carom lizard-leather embossed pool

cue. “Oh this old thing?” you reply. “That’s my carom

lizard-leather embossed pool cue.” This find is the ultimate ice breaker, worth the

US$590.99.

3

electronics and

accessories

You can find unlocked iphones and ipads, plus cases to protect them, chargers to charge them and Airpods to lose with them. Other highlights include fitness trackers, camera lenses and noise-cancelling headphones.

4

14-karat diamond tennis bracelet

This diamond tennis bracelet is one of those timeless

pieces of jewelry. One like-new, 14-karat gold-anddiamond find is poised to become a new family heirloom, one you hopefully keep track of better than did its former owner, who abandoned it in

their luggage.

5

nick Fouquet Felt hat Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Bob Dylan have enjoyed Nick Fouquet hats. The California hatmaker has celebrity clients for his dome apparel, with price tags upward of US$1,000. One unlucky traveller left his or her gently used Nick Fouquet mauve felt hat at an airport, and it’s available online for US$335.99, some 70 per cent off its MSRP of

US$1,135.