The Collector: Former teacher keeps her memories in the bags

Postcards.

T-shirts.

Coffee mugs.

There are plenty of souvenirs travelers can pick up to let folks back home know that they were thinking of them.

When Jolyn Canty’s middle school students asked her what memento they could bring to her, the answer spawned an unusual collection.

“I told them to bring me a barf bag,” she recalled. “I asked them to sign and date it and let me know where they went.”

Canty taught in private schools in Idaho and California for approximately 20 years.

“I primarily taught junior high English,” she said. “I didn’t want them to spend a lot just to bring me something.”

The collection matched her teaching style.

“I really pushed my students – they had to write essays and papers every week,” Canty said. “But humor is what gave me classroom control and discipline.”

Over the years, her students nailed the barf bag assignment. Before her recent move from Spokane Valley to North Idaho, Canty had accumulated 350 bags from various airlines.

After her adult kids declined to inherit her collection, she winnowed it down to 100.

“I recycled the plastic ones.”

What remains is still impressive. On trips to Korea, Haiti, the Netherlands and more, her students gathered motion sickness bags. In addition to signing and dating them, many illustrated them.

A bright yellow flower with the words, “Aloha! Genuine Maui Barf Bag,” adorns one.

Another features a SpongeBob interpretation of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. The back side features SpongeBob’s nemesis, Plankton, along with a list of sites the student visited in New York City.

One of Canty’s favorites is from a student who was traveling to South Africa.

He wrote, “Look, Mrs. Canty, it’s me barfing!” beneath a pen and ink illustration.

“He’s a pastor now,” Canty said, smiling.

A student flying to Arizona via American Airlines drew an odorous bag with the warning “Do not open.”

One light blue version came with its own printed illustration of an elfish creature demonstrating the before and after use of the patented “Sic-Sac.”

A Delta Airlines bag features the words “For motion discomfort” in seven languages.

Apparently, even astronauts get queasy.

One of Canty’s students visited Cape Canaveral and brought back a NASA barf bag. It came in a small manila envelope, and the message is similar to ones used by the airlines. “(For use during moments of stomach upset) If stomach upset is anticipated, remove bag from this container and keep ready for use. Do not be embarrassed by this precaution, as even veteran travelers are subject to occasional motion sickness.”

Another student illustrated what she’d learned in Canty’s classroom when she wrote, “Hope you have a super summer! Hey, that’s an alliteration!”

Even former students thought of her.

“Dear Mrs. Canty, While traversing the skies on my way to Europe this past summer, I saw these barf bags and thought of you … I hope you still collect them!”

Canty’s students went on to become doctors, lawyers, dancers and artists. One played professional basketball, and one student (Alexander Rossi) won the Indy 500 as a rookie. He started racing go-karts and is an inspiration to Canty’s grandson, Carson.

Social media allows her to stay in touch with many of her former students, and her collection prompts warm memories of her time with them.

“These kids are so amazing and precious to me,” she said.