Satchel & Page featured in Southern Living Magazine

From the June, 2012 issue of Southern Living

Made in Texas: Satchel & Page Bags

These handcrafted goods from Austin make stylish and rugged travel companions.

"Daniel Ralsky's wanderlust has taken him to 25 countries - 12 in the last three years. So it's no surprise that when the Austin globe-trotter couldn't find a dependable bag for his travels, he decides to make his own. "I was carrying a messenger bag a couple years ago in Tokyo when the strap broke," he said. "When I bought it, I was under the impression that the product was made in America, but when I investigated, I learned it had been made overseas. I realized there was some room in the market for a high-quality, American made bag with character. So last year I started Satchel & Page."

Now Daniel and his Austin-based staff of three craftspeople create tough, waterproof travel bags from waxed canvas and leather, all of which is sourced in the United States. "I think that's important so I can keep an eye on our quality. The leather is oil-tanned in Texas and gives our product an authentic Texas feel."

Even the company's name reflects that "Texas feel" of worn leather, harkening back to the days when messages were carried by horseback in satchels, he explains. "It's really a nod to the past because a satchel was just an older version of a travel bag and the primary means of communication was through the pages of letters," Daniel says. "The computer has largely replaced the need for sending letters, so we make something durable that can carry today's technology - like our laptop and iPad bags that are specifically designed to carry computers and tablets."

Daniel still loves to travel (he recently hiked through the pre-Colombian Incan site of Macchu Picchu in Peru and he knows his traveling bags won't let him down. "I carry our 'Austin' messenger in tan, which has a pattern inspired by an old saddle," he says. "It's aged quite well and the subtle markings and patina show that I have traveled quite a bit."

-Southern Living Magazine, June 2012