Discover enthusiasts dedicated to acquiring airsickness bags as a unique passion.

Discover enthusiasts devoted to amassing airsickness bags

"I gather barf bags since they're quite fascinating."

A small but noticeable number of individuals share this obscure passion, although they're hardly numerous compared to the world's population. According to some aficionados, the community's size is slightly over a hundred.

A selected few are participating in "The Last Thrown-Up Sack", a new initiative by Dramamine to celebrate these essential items with a 13-minute documentary and an exhibit showcasing barf bags in New York City. The exhibit showcases a variety of specimens, offering an intriguing glimpse into the history of aviation.

For certain enthusiasts, this is no laughing matter. In secluded corners of the internet, these items are bought and sold as if they were common commodities, a trade unknown to most people.

This tight-knit group has its own customs and fair share of drama. Relationships have formed around this peculiar hobby, and the tales surrounding it are surprisingly detailed.

However, let's not forget that we're dealing with barf bags here. To be part of this scene, one needs a fantastic sense of humor.

The Mysterious Motivation

Steve Silberburg, a collector since the early '80s, initially thought he'd be the only one when he started this bizarre hobby. While he was mistaken, his assumption was understandable.

"When you're young, you think, 'I'm going to collect something.' But everyone collects stamps and coins," Silberburg told CNN.

After playing around with sardine keys and Styrofoam weights, Silberburg found inspiration in a seatback pocket on a flight from Boston to San Francisco.

"Nobody collects these," he remembers thinking. "This is what I’m going to do."

Steve Silberburg shows off his unique vanity plate, which is undoubtedly a point of interest around town.

Silberburg was a college student at the time, and he thought it would be amusing to hang the barf bag outside his fraternity house room. The response was not only amusing but also inadvertently expanded his collection as classmates began bringing him more bags.

In the mid-'90s, when the internet became widely available, Silberburg found himself connected with other collectors, and the hobby gained momentum.

Eli Cox, a collector from Austin, Texas, owes his 370-piece collection to his academic days. He acquired many of his bags from students he knew during his teaching years.

"It's been surprising over the years to receive bags from students who had graduated 10 or 20 years ago, yet somehow remembered what I was doing," Cox said. "It has been a way to connect people and generate some laughter. So that's been fun."

Fun, Cox says, is the primary objective.

"It's a happiness inducer. When I tell people about it, they first ask if they heard me correctly, and then they laugh. I think there's a happiness and laughter deficiency in the world right now."

A Journey through Vomit Bags

The barf bag is a unique artifact of human progress. Think about all that had to be achieved for it to exist: the success of aviation, the complex global infrastructure of commercial flight, and the impressive feat of inventing something for people to puke in that isn't too threatening to keep nearby.

Bob Grove, a former lawyer from San Diego, became a collector through his love for travel. His home is adorned with hundreds of framed bags, much to the annoyance of his understanding interior designer wife.

Like many collectors, many of his favorite acquisitions come with a story. There was the time he and fellow collector Bruce Kelly took a shuttle to a Tijuana airport to see if they could get bags from domestic Mexican airlines. Thanks to some helpful airport staff, they left with a haul.

A portion of Bob Grove's tastefully framed collection adorns the walls of a bathroom in his home.

"People weren't always helpful, but at that airport, they couldn't have been kinder or more accommodating. It was unbelievable," he said.

Grove values bags from small airlines, defunct airlines, and lesser-traveled regions of the world. The specifics of the airline industry play a role as well.

Grove recalls the split of the Chinese government-owned airline CAAC into dozens of domestic airlines, leading to an abundance of distinctive barf bags. Those are his favorites thanks to their quality and attention to detail: intricate illustrations, durable construction, and even a design that looks best from...well, someone currently using it.

"When you collect, you can see the evolution of graphic design as well," he said. "You can watch designs change over the years, and the designs on the domestic Chinese airlines are some of the best in the world."

Bruce Kelly, Grove's friend who encouraged him to take the trip to Tijuana, shares his love for travel. The spark for Kelly's collection was a whim during a backpacking trip to Burma in 1976. He kept a bag because of its Burmese script, and years later, he rediscovered it, sparking his curiosity about what else it could lead to.

I've had my fair share of time on flights, gazing at the seat in front, and I thought to myself, "What if I collected those barf bags?" Karen mused. And so, the notion rolled down like a fast-moving train: "Nobody else has ever thought of it. I'll have the largest collection in existence."

Although he might not have the only collection, his stash of around 8,000 bags is undoubtedly one of the largest. Karen also runs Karen's Vomit Sacks Catalogue, an online platform showcasing his collection, with some items available for purchase.

"I aim to document the history of each airline I've collected from," he stated. "So, it turned into a historical affair, and someone should preserve this history before it's gone forever."

The origin story

The barf bag is said to have been invented by American innovator Gilmore Schjeldahl. The North Dakota native was a prominent figure in the industrial design world, specializing in bags and plastic coatings. In 1949, he created a blend of the two: a discreet, plastic-lined bag for motion sickness.

Bruce Kelly's collection reflects a well-traveled life.

The term "barf bag" may sound rather undignified, but the alternatives aren't much better. "Comfort bags" are cloaked in ambiguity. "Sickness bags" lack charm. The scientifically sterile "emesis bags" might be too formal for the situation. ("Excuse me, I think I might need an emesis bag," and the moment could be upon you – or your clothes – before you finish your sentence.)

So, "barf bag" it is – a term that is evocative, memorable, and, in its own way, like a good barf bag itself.

When asked about their favorite barf bags, the collectors CNN spoke to all had slightly varying opinions. Yet, they all agreed upon one thing: the barfing reindeer.

"One of the favorites of every collector has to be a bag from a domestic Finnish airline called Finn Aviation, which has since been absorbed into the national carrier FinAir," Bob Grove detailed. "Their logo was a reindeer, and their barf bag was the logo, but the reindeer was vomiting ice cubes. It's minimalist and Scandinavian in design. Simple, yet the meaning is clear as day."

The barfing reindeer is a useful reminder that these items have a very practical purpose beyond being stored in vinyl pouches or exhibited in New York City galleries.

Steve Silberberg recalls needing to use a barf bag during a flight from Omaha to St. Louis due to sinus issues. ("I threw up on a TWA flight once," he admitted.) It was a double whammy: TWA no longer exists, so there's a piece of history. And all things considered, your most memorable barf bag is probably the one you have to use.

"I must say that the bag worked swiftly, and I was astonished by how tidy the whole experience was," he added.

Unfortunately, people no longer vomit on planes as often as they used to. The collectors lament that barf bags are now a dying art, absent from many large carriers and often lacking the charm of the nauseated past, when air travel was still new and these bags were common in seat back pockets.

"The airlines have become much smoother, so you don't get sick on flights anymore," Bruce Kelly reasoned. "Maybe Dramamine has helped."

A broader scope

The famed 'Barfing Reindeer' bag, admired by collectors for its unmistakable symbolism.

Barf bags are everywhere if you're willing to look. Some collectors have expanded their collections beyond air sickness bags to include any kind of vomit bag whatsoever.

Karen, who maintains the extensive online barf bag catalog, also collects bags from ships, trains, buses – anywhere people might throw up.

For Silberberg, some of his coolest bags aren't from any form of transportation at all. (Although one from a space shuttle certainly ranks high in his collection.)

"I have bags from elections, political events. I have bags celebrating royal weddings and the Diamond Jubilee in England. I even have some from banks. I can't remember offhand how I acquired those, but their marketing departments must have had a great week."

Silberberg, a confirmed "computer geek," is partial to the ones given out at video game conventions, and even has one themed to the popular computer game Roller Coaster Tycoon.

"Some collectors are purists," he says. "But I collect them all."

As the collectors describe their experiences in collecting barf bags, a sense of camaraderie emerges. There are collectors in Japan and Europe, some of whom inspire jealousy from American collectors who don't travel as frequently or have as many airline options in their regions.

Then, there are unofficial agreements among traders that can strain relationships. One collector described the "one for one" rule of thumb, which some collectors try to exploit to acquire rare bags in exchange for several more common ones.

Such is life in a community, even one as unusual as barf bag collecting.

"We all know each other, all over the world," explains Karen. "We keep in touch with each other."

Barf bags come in many styles and, well, capacities. Eli Cox holds a plastic medical-style emesis bag.

"It's a good test, telling people you collect barf bags," Silberberg says. "If people think it's cool, those are people I'd typically get along with. But if they say, 'Oh, gross,' I probably don't need to know them."

Read also:

This hobby of collecting barf bags has attracted a small but dedicated group of individuals worldwide.

Inspired by the unique designs and historical value of these bags, enthusiasts like Steve Silberburg and Bob Grove travel extensively to expand their collections.