From the era of the steamship, before jet airplanes eliminated the need for steamer trunks, comes the vintage luggage label. Designed to function as routing labels for hotels and oceanliners, the labels became symbols of wealth and status. Railroads and airlines also issued their own labels. But the advent of jets and faster travel times eliminated the use of trunks and their accompanying labels. Now coveted collectibles, these labels, like any collectible, vary in price according to condition, subject, and aesthetics. Richter & Co is a well-known printer of these little bits of art. How much will my boring bar-coded airport routing tags be worth in the future? (via dollarshort.org)