Gladstone bag

English

Etymology

Named after British prime minister William E. Gladstone (1809–1898), a frequent traveller.

Noun

Gladstone bag (plural Gladstone bags)

1. (dated) An early hinged bag, a precursor of the modern briefcase.

   Synonym: Gladstone

   • 1915, W. Somerset Maugham, chapter 47, in Of Human Bondage:

     Cronshaw sat in the place of honour on a Gladstone bag, with his legs curled under him like a Turkish bashaw […] .

   • 1961 March, ""Balmore"", “Driving and firing modern French steam locomotives”, in Trains Illustrated, page 147:

     André produced a gigantic Gladstone bag and from it extracted a meal forever memorable - a "pique-nique" as he called it.

Further reading

• Gladstone bag on Wikipedia.Wikipedia