Blue Suitcase

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The True Origins of the Blue Suitcase

By Bill Anderson

In late 1991 The Seattle Remake The Circle convention promotions team needed something to haul around promotional merchandise and registration materials to Fly-ins around the country. One of the Puddletown Squares members (Lisa Ericson) had an old Samsonite hard sided suitcase in garage that she ‘loaned’ us to haul the stuff around. The hard sides prevented the mugs from getting crushed and the baby blue color made it easy to spot on luggage carousels. They didn’t charge for extra bags in those days. It traveled around a fair bit promoting the Seattle convention in 1993.

Now the bad part, how a tradition gets birthed.

On the closing day of that Seattle convention, One of the Co-chairs (Dan Bray), Myself, and possibly a couple of others who were working on putting on the event, were sitting in the convention office when the discussion came up with what to do with the beautiful (not) suitcase that none of us wanted and that Lisa didn’t ask to be returned at that time. One of came up with the ‘great’ idea of giving to the Washington, DC convention so they could haul the materials that get handed off year to year, home. Closing ceremonies seemed like the best time to do it. And so we did.

In the years since it’s been thrown in a dumpster (which I believe Rick Hawes dove into to rescue it). The original was blown up (there is video to prove it) by Star Thru The Silicon Galaxy (where somebody rushed to a thrift store found a case and spray painted in the parking lot). It did not die. A blue suitcase birthed a smaller version at the delegates meeting in San Francisco 2013 which Rick Hawes continues to use to haul around the medallion project’s lists. And a matching makeup case was spotted but never quite made it to the Honky Tonk Queen contest (but who knows what the future brings).

So now, 24 years later, like a bad penny, the thing has ‘CIRCLEd BACK TO SEATTLE’ We’ll find out if Lisa wants her suitcase back. If not it will be appropriately embellished and the curse of possession will continue for years to come.

There are a few names that were responsible for some the things that happened I don’t know, but I’m sure they get filled in.

And Look out Philly...


Blue Suitcase Trivia

2004 Remake The Heatwave Promotional Video

The blue suitcase was confiscated by an airport security agent and blown up in the promotional video for 2004's Remake The Heatwave convention in Phoenix, AZ.

On 7/11/2017, on Facebook, Seth Levine wrote:

Oddly enough, Gordon Macaw happens to have just come across this link to the promotional video for Remake The Heatwave, 2004, where we blew up both the blue and a brown bag that had been handed off to us. They appear at the beginning of the video, through about 1:21, and then you'll want to skip to 9:23 to see how we attempted to get rid of them.