Watch CBS News

Jay Lloyd's Getaway: Great Holiday Gift Idea For Travelers

.

By Jay Lloyd

.

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Looking for a holiday gift for your favorite traveling companion?  A ditty bag may be just the ticket.

What's that, you say? A "ditty bag?"

Sure. Today's sophisticated folks know them as toilet kits or, more politely, shaving kits.

But in the days of iron men and wooden ships, it was a plain "ditty bag." Some say the word came from an Anglo-Saxon term for tidy.

A ditty bag was a handy canvas sack for a sailor's small things: sewing and shaving gear, soap, a knife -- stuff that would get lost rattling around in a duffel.

Nowadays, the retooled toilet kit looks something like a miniature country doctor's bag.  But for the practical traveler or sailor, the modern ditty is still canvas and compartmentalized with a handy hook for hanging. so

Sold at outdoor gear stores for $20 to $40, ditty bags are a tidy guy getaway gift!

"Jay Lloyd's Getaway" Main Page

 

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.