# Name for bundle in a handkerchief on a stick **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 29, 2003, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-bundle-in-a-handkerchief-on-a-stick/204539 "2003-09-29T19:58:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![refusal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac91a4/32.png) [@refusal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/refusal)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-bundle-in-a-handkerchief-on-a-stick/204539/1 "2003-09-29T19:58:38Z")
You know when people who are leaving home (often in old Disney cartoons) pack all their possessions up into a little bundle, tie it up in a handkerchief, and hang it from a stick over their shoulder? I’m sure there’s a name for that bundle, but don’t know what it is. Please help, or tell me if I’m looking for a word that doesn’t exist. ---
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-bundle-in-a-handkerchief-on-a-stick/204539/2 "2003-09-29T20:00:16Z")
Bindle, as in bindle stiff (hobo). ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-bundle-in-a-handkerchief-on-a-stick/204539/3 "2003-09-29T20:02:51Z")
I have heard it called “napsack”, as in “napkin sack”, but I don’t think that is the proper name, just a parlance I’ve encountered. ---
**Author:** ![octothorpe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b77776/32.png) [@octothorpe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octothorpe)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-bundle-in-a-handkerchief-on-a-stick/204539/4 "2003-09-29T20:40:40Z")
I think **stuyguy** nailed it. Britt, Iowa has an annual hobo convention which prominently features ‘hobo stew’ made by the trough. I remember a sign that mentioned packing up your bindle and hopping a frieght or something of the sort. **Una Persson** is your location a **Henry Kuttner** reference? # ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-bundle-in-a-handkerchief-on-a-stick/204539/5 "2003-09-29T23:28:16Z")
Tucker bag (for the southern star contingent) ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-bundle-in-a-handkerchief-on-a-stick/204539/6 "2003-09-30T00:00:38Z")
The term “bindle” is what I’ve always heard. I also thought that “swag” was used down under as well. ---
**Author:** ![MelCthefirst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@MelCthefirst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MelCthefirst)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-bundle-in-a-handkerchief-on-a-stick/204539/7 "2003-09-30T01:05:49Z")
Down Under it’s definately ‘swag’ as Zenster points out. “Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong, under the shade of a coolibah tree …” (Walzing Matilda) ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-bundle-in-a-handkerchief-on-a-stick/204539/8 "2003-09-30T01:48:14Z")
> [@](#): > > Una Persson is your location a Henry Kuttner reference? I’m pretty sure that Una’s location is a Ghostbusters reference. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-bundle-in-a-handkerchief-on-a-stick/204539/9 "2003-09-30T02:00:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by octothorpe \* > **Una Persson is your location a Henry Kuttner reference?** No. It’s a reference to the fact that she sleeps above her covers. _four feet_ above her covers. BTW I am the Key Master. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-bundle-in-a-handkerchief-on-a-stick/204539/10 "2003-09-30T03:01:11Z")
Also called a “travelin’ sack”. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-bundle-in-a-handkerchief-on-a-stick/204539/11 "2003-09-30T04:23:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kat \* > \*\*I’m pretty sure that Una’s location is a Ghostbusters reference. \*\* Yup! I just saw the movie again while on the road in Montana. ---
**Author:** ![aaslatten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f14d63/32.png) [@aaslatten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aaslatten)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-bundle-in-a-handkerchief-on-a-stick/204539/12 "2003-09-30T04:33:31Z")
What a great question. It’s almost like the French-maid discussion, in that I wonder if hobos ever actually carried these things. ---
**Author:** ![aaslatten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f14d63/32.png) [@aaslatten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aaslatten)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-bundle-in-a-handkerchief-on-a-stick/204539/13 "2003-09-30T04:35:25Z")
Also, I remember “running away” when I was 8 and fixing myself a bindle. I think I got it from “Leave it to Beaver.” What a dork. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-bundle-in-a-handkerchief-on-a-stick/204539/14 "2003-09-30T22:25:22Z")
While _bindle_ and _bindle stiff_ originated about the time of the hobo(the laste 1800’s), the early cites indicate that they were the hobo’s _bed-roll_ , which might contain his/her possesions. The small hankerchief-on-a-stick may have been a cartoonists idea. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-bundle-in-a-handkerchief-on-a-stick/204539/15 "2003-10-01T00:11:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Una Persson \* > \*\*Yup! I just saw the movie again while on the road in Montana. \*\* Where did you travel? ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-bundle-in-a-handkerchief-on-a-stick/204539/16 "2003-10-01T01:45:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Derleth \* > \*\*Where did you travel? \*\* Went to Billings for a boondoggle sales trip. Nice place overall, although sadly unproductive for new work.