The trunk of the representative is called a marmot in French. "Marmotte "is a term that covers all the luggage of professionals for the transport of samples, a salesman travel case.
And here is his story:
To attract the curious, the Savoyard street vendors were accompanied by a tame marmot they carried in a "marmot box". The Savoyard and his marmot were popular figures of the Parisian street, represented by many engravings.
By extension, from the beginning of the nineteenth century, we called "marmot" all trunks, boxes and suitcases, salesman travel case intended for street vending.
Even today, each traveling salesman has a "marmot", adapted to his samples and custom-designed. There are still companies specializing in the manufacture of these trunks.
From hawker to business traveler ...
From 1870, the economic rationalization, the appearance and the development of the samples, the possibility to manage newly the flows thanks to the railroad transforms the hawker in
" salesman ". Here are some examples of marmots:
https://www.la-malle-en-coin.com/fr/component/customfilters/?q=marmotte
Marmotte from the brand Lavolaille with its key
https://www.la-malle-en-coin.com/en/trunks-for-sale/travel-accessories/r2169-valise-marmotte-lavolaille-avec-clef-detail.html
the watchmaker's marmot
https://www.la-malle-en-coin.com/en/trunks-for-sale/malles-decoratives/other-trunks/r1755-marmotte-dhorlogerie-detail.html
The zig-zag marmot
The Louis Vuitton marmot commode
hhttps://www.la-malle-en-coin.com/en/trunks-for-sale/luxury-trunks/mtt2018-10-marmotte-wardrobe-louis-vuitton-detail.html
These trunks were intended for transatlantic transport of demonstration goods for sales representatives, traders or collectors
We can easily imagine here a shoe salesman
On this trunk, a liner label of 1951
Years 30-40