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The Story Behind the “Rollaboard”
It all starts with a Northwest Airlines 747 pilot named Robert Plath who turned his suitcase upright, added on a couple of wheels, and attached a handle.
Mass manufacturing credit and patent goes to Bernard D. Sadow, vice president of a Massachusetts luggage company, in 1970. The first design had the piece rolled flat on its front and pulled via a strap attached to the top.
Eventually, this was usurped by Plath’s Rollaboard; who founded the luggage brand Travelpro to sell his invention to the aviation industry, marketing the product to airline crews and pilots.
Then, a few years later, to the masses across the U.S.
Nowadays, Travelpro touts itself as the “Highest Quality Luggage for fhe Experience Traveler”.