The English Oracle

What is a "BEA bag"?

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Chapters
00:00 What Is A &Quot;Bea Bag&Quot;?
00:22 Accepted Answer Score 16
01:14 Thank you

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Full question
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Tags
#meaning

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ACCEPTED ANSWER

Score 16


That BEA is capitalised suggests an abbreviation, indicating a BEA bag is a bag of or from BEA.

It's not a type of bag more a branded bag; a Starbucks bag is a bag from Starbucks not a bag of the Starbucks type.

BEA can stand for British European Airways, "a British airline which existed from 1946 until 1974"1.

The period of operation of the airline fits the year of publication of the novel. That the airline was British fits with Christie being British and that the airline was "the largest domestic airline within the United Kingdom"1 supports the notion that Christie and the intended audience of the novel would have been aware of what BEA at the time was.

Context suggests Christie refers to a bag supplied by British Europeans Airlines, possibly sold to or offered to passengers.

BEA airline bag

1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_European_Airways