Who Really Invented the Rolling Suitcase? Spoiler: It Wasn’t a Guy at the Airport?

Gather round, folks, because it's story time with a twist - the never-heard saga of a rolling suitcase that could've changed our travel game way before we even knew we had a game. Picture this: it's the roaring twenties, and while most folks are worried about jazz and prohibition, Anita Willets-Burnham, an unsung inventor par excellence, decides to put wheels on a suitcase. Yeah, you heard that right. Wheels. On a suitcase. Because why should moving from A to B feel like a workout?

Anita, in a move that combined motherly ingenuity with the "why didn’t I think of that?" kind of brilliance, looked at the hassle of lugging hefty luggage and said, "Not today." So, with the help of her son Bud – who we can only assume was the original DIY king – they slapped some wheels from an old baby carriage onto a suitcase and bam! Travel suddenly looked a lot less like a strongman competition.

Now, if this were a tale where merit equals recognition, Anita would have been hailed as the patron saint of travelers. But alas, despite her rolling suitcases turning heads and probably saving backs, the official hats off went to Bernard D. Sadow in the 70s, followed by Robert Plath in the 80s, who both basically said, "Great idea, Anita," and ran with it to the patent office.

So, in the spirit of Anita and all early makers, let’s not forget: innovation isn’t just about creating something new; it’s about looking at the old, giving it a cheeky wink, and asking, “How can I make you better?” That's the heart and soul of the Purnell spirit – never afraid to tinker, always ready to solve a problem, and occasionally wondering, “Should we have patented that?” But hey, if you forget, just roll with it.