American Tourister is a well known brand of suitcase

Suitcase

A suitcase is a general term for a distinguishable form of luggage. It is often a somewhat flat, rectangular-shaped bag with rounded/square corners, either metal, hard plastic or made of cloth, vinyl or leather that more or less keeps its shape. It has a carrying handle on one side and is used...

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Immigrant Sol Koffler founded American Luggage Works in Providence, Rhode Island

Providence, Rhode Island

Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...

 in either 1932 or 1933 with his life savings. He was determined to produce luggage priced at $1 in the midst of the Great Depression

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

. The company's breakthrough came soon after when Koffler devised a new line that was significantly better than that of the competition; he named it American Tourister.

In 1970, American Tourister launched a memorable ad campaign, highlighting the durability of its product by unleashing a "gorilla" (actually a man in a costume) on it. The commercial ran for fifteen years. It was also shown briefly in the 1995 movie, Apollo 13

Apollo 13 (film)

Apollo 13 is a 1995 American drama film directed by Ron Howard. The film stars Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise, Kathleen Quinlan and Ed Harris. The screenplay by William Broyles, Jr...

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In 1993, American Tourister was acquired by Astrum International, which also made Samsonite

Samsonite

The Samsonite Corporation makes luggage with its products ranging from large suitcases to small toiletries bags and briefcases. It was started in Denver, Colorado, USA in 1910 byJesse Shwayder, as the Shwayder Trunk Manufacturing Company. Shwayder named one of his initial cases "Samson", after the...

luggage. Astrum was renamed the Samsonite Corporation two years later.

American Tourister has now become a lower-end version of its Samsonite sister brand.