What Apple computer was this early 80's carry-on bag designed for?

September 5, 2008 5:10 AM

What (early 80's?) Apple Computer was this nicely constructed nylon "carry-on" bag made for?

I recently came across this very nice bag at a second hand store in Connecticut. Initially, I thought it was a record bag - it's about the right size, and it's built well and looks like it can hold a heavy load.

Pictures: Front (closed), Front (open), Logo, Inner Patch

Upon closer inspection, I noticed an Apple Computer patch on the front - the old "rainbow" logo. It's not an added patch - it's flush with the design of the bag, and there's another patch on the inside with a Apple copyright and the text:

Warning
This bag is designed for carry-on use only
Use an ATA Spec. 300, category 1 approved
container for checking your computer as
luggage or shipping it as cargo.


So, I assume (based on the pockets all over it, and it's weighty construction) that it was made for an early Apple to be transported, even as a carry-on on a plane. I've found very little information about this searching around on Google - nothing comes up for the text string and searching for "apple" and "bag" and permutations thereof yields nothing useful. There were a few mentions on forums of old apple computers coming with bags, but nothing that specifically described this one.

It's definitely an odd color choice (a warm beige - looks cool in the flash photos, but it's a little warmer in real life), though perhaps not for the time... One of the stranger aesthetic choices of Apple's I've seen... so I'm wondering which computer model this bag was made for.

posted by SmileyChewtrain to computers & internet (16 comments total)

It looks to me like this is an old beige 1st generation Macintosh bag. It was built to carry a heavy load because those old Macs weighed quite a bit.
posted by scblackman at 5:32 AM on September 5, 2008

More details ...
posted by scblackman at 5:35 AM on September 5, 2008

It was for the original Macintosh. Apple used to have a "Test Drive a Macintosh" program where you could walk into a store and walk out with the computer for a day - this made it easier.
posted by plinth at 5:45 AM on September 5, 2008

In this age of laptops people forget that there was a huge market for so-called "transportable" computers. That's how Compaq got their start, for example. The original Macintosh was specifically designed to be relatively easy to transport, at least by the standards of the day. You wouldn't take it class, but you might bring it home from work for some evening productivity. Or you'd take it home from school over the holidays.

Anyway, here is some original advertising featuring what we always called a MacBag.
posted by LastOfHisKind at 6:27 AM on September 5, 2008

It's for a Mac SE, Plus, 512 or classic.
posted by dmt at 6:30 AM on September 5, 2008

Yep, I used to haul an SE/30 home from work to play with MIDI on weekends in one of those. :-)
posted by kindall at 6:40 AM on September 5, 2008

The beige color suggests original Mac or Mac 512.

SEs and Classics, though they had the same form factor, were later, and gray.
posted by rokusan at 7:09 AM on September 5, 2008

Also, that's mid-80's. 1984-1986.
posted by rokusan at 7:11 AM on September 5, 2008

Here's a Mac+bag photo - not that there's really any doubt at this point, is there?
posted by O9scar at 8:16 AM on September 5, 2008

I still have my FatMac 512k in that very bag. Do I hear $1,000,000? How about $10?
posted by Aquaman at 8:20 AM on September 5, 2008

I had one of those in college! Cool!
posted by miss tea at 10:07 AM on September 5, 2008

definitely an original macintosh carrying case. it, or one like it, was the subject of the mac's first words, from the intro event.
posted by disarray at 10:20 AM on September 5, 2008 [1 favorite]

(the story of how that demo came together is here.)
posted by disarray at 10:21 AM on September 5, 2008

Humm ... I guess it could be an original Macintosh/SE/Classic case, but it looks a little short and squat for that.

I actually have one of the SE/Classic form-factor cases and it seems to me it's a little taller in profile than that one. Also, the top of the one I have is not rectangular, I believe it's square.

Maybe tonight I'll see if I can find it and get a photo to compare this one with.
posted by Kadin2048 at 10:59 AM on September 5, 2008

I have my original Mac in the beige case it came in sitting right next to me. It looks just like your pictures, straps, shoulder pad, etc. included, and has the warning patch inside. The top of mine is rectangular, like yours, not square.
posted by bwanabetty at 2:09 PM on September 5, 2008

Awesome, thanks everyone for clearing this up for me and for the stories!
posted by SmileyChewtrain at 10:19 AM on September 6, 2008