Shoulder Tote

In October 1977, Janis Ian embarked upon her first tour of Australia, becoming the first American pop singer to play at the newly constructed Sydney Opera House. Sammy Davis, Jr., had crooned there in April. Ella Fitzgerald would slide up on stage the next spring. Until then, the venue had only been home to eventually iconic Australian bands like AC/DC and Air Supply.

She purchased a new bag at the Sydney airport, made of “amazingly soft leather,” with enough pockets to hold all her essentials for an international tour: glasses (in case she lost her lenses), makeup (because whenever she stepped off a plane, she walked into a press conference), lightweight PJs (for long flights), pens and pads along with music notation paper and a small cassette recorder. It also had room for a thick paperback book. In her memory, the book was The Day on Fire by James Ramsey Ullman.

That bag went all over the world with her, and she tracked each country with a silver pen on the outside of it. “I had to retire it when my back started giving me problems,” Ian recalls. “Luckily, roller bags became available, so I set the navy shoulder bag aside and donated it to Berea.