A satchel is a bag with a strap, traditionally used for carrying books. The strap is often worn so that it diagonally crosses the body, with the bag hanging on the opposite hip, rather than hanging directly down from the shoulder. The back of a satchel extends to form a flap that folds over to cover the top and fastens in the front. Unlike a
briefcase, a satchel is soft-sided.
School bag
The satchel has been a typical accessory of English students for centuries, as attested in
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's famous monologue, "
All the world's a stage." The traditional
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
and
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
style satchel features a simple pouch with a front flap. Variations include designs with a single or double pocket on the front and sometimes a handle on the top of the bag. The classic school bag satchel often had two straps, so that it could be worn like a backpack, with the design having the straps coming in a V from the centre of the back of the bag, rather than separate straps on each side. This style is sometimes called a satchel backpack.
In
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
the term for a school bag satchel is ''
randoseru
A is a firm-sided backpack made of stitched firm leather or leather-like synthetic material, most commonly used in Japan by elementary schoolchildren. Traditionally it is given to a child upon beginning their first year of school, whereupon ...
''.
In the United States, satchels of various designs and materials, classically were the Bookbags of choice for Elementary students into the 1970s. Beginning in the 1950s into the 1970s, the use of bags by schoolchildren declined in favour of carrying books by hand, until backpacks being popular.
[George A Staffa, Butler PA, Personal observation of 1952-1980.]
In fashion
The satchel has become a fashion accessory in the last couple of decades, with the proliferation of satchel-shaped handbags and other accessories from various brands such as the
Cambridge Satchel Company
The Cambridge Satchel Company is a British company that produces satchels and other leather goods.
The company was founded in 2008, in Cambridge, England, by Julie Deane and her mother Freda Thomas as a way to pay private school fees for Deane's ...
.
See also
*
Hunting bag
*
Briefcase
*
Messenger bag
*
Backpack
A backpack—also called knapsack, schoolbag, rucksack, rucksac, pack, sackpack, booksack, bookbag or backsack—is, in its simplest frameless form, a fabric sack carried on one's back and secured with two straps that go over the shoulders ...
*
Handbag
*
Carriel, a leather satchel used in Colombia
*
Loculus Loculus may refer to:
*Loculus (satchel)
*Loculus (architecture), a burial niche
*An alternative name for a locule, or compartment in an organism.
*Loculus of Archimedes or Ostomachion
''Ostomachion'', also known as ''loculus Archimedius'' ...
, a satchel carried by Roman legionaries
*
Mail satchel
References
{{Authority control
Bags (fashion)
Luggage
et:Ranits