Bruce Kelly, who lives in Alaska, collected his first “barf bag” from Lithuanian Airlines in 1999 when he flew from Riga, Latvia to Vilnius, Lithuania. Today, his collection includes over 7,000 different bags from 1,453 airlines.
Alas, the collection does not include mementos from Alaskan Airlines, which uses generic bags. Kelly even talked to the CEO to further his collection, but to no avail.
His collection is nevertheless recognized as one of the top three in the world, and after having been to 135 countries worldwide and being in touch with other collectors — yes, there are more out there! — he is furthering his collection and that of his fellow hobbyists by swapping bags and tips.
Online prices for sick bags have soared as more collectors enter the field, with some rare and elusive bags now fetching $200 apiece.
Kelly told "Far & Wide" he does not have a personal favorite, but his wife prefers his bag from Finnair, which depicts a reindeer barfing ice cubes.