Czechoslovakian Gas Mask Bag, Surplus

A simple and stylish vintage shoulder bag straight from the wondrous past! This sort of Czechoslovakian satchel was used to carry at least a gas mask, but shoulder bag connoisseurs can probably think of other uses also. One-off lot!

A history of truthiness

The insides of these bags have stamps with numbers such as “53”. That might well be a mark of a relic made to commemorate the year of Stalin’s passing, or not. Behind the Iron Curtain, of course, the news of Stalin’s death wasn’t necessarily shared everywhere – the story* goes that kids in Russia were taught in school well into the 1970s that Little Soso was still very much alive and in charge… Even though his carcass had been on display for years in the Red Square mausoleum (later they dumped it somewhere else). Well, it is probably for the best to keep the peasants fooled, as it is quite tricky to plan for assassinations when you don’t know which of the eyebrow gang have already been installed with formaldehyde upgrades!

* all stories about Russia are true

Features

This Eastern-Bloc-colored bag has one compartment with a flap closure. The flap has small loops which connect to wooden toggles. The bag can take e.g. a good old plastic wrapped package of six 0,33L (or 12 fl.oz.) beverage cans, most likely even two of them. Or three – do your own research!

• Adjustable strap (there is some variance in the make of these straps)
• Compartment size: 34 x 25 x 10 cm / 13.4” x 9.8” x 3.9”, volume about 8.5 liters
• The material is brown cotton canvas

Czechoslovakian surplus

These bags seem unused and properly stored. They really don’t give off the raw pungency of true surplus even when sniffed with full force – only a little whiff to get your juices running. The material is tough cotton canvas, and the bag has been sewn so that the seams are not on the bottom – this piece of gear will probably last you another 70 years* in everyday use with some occasional maintenance.

* just like Stalin’s reign