History

Tuffbag began in 1980 by my Aunt Alene. Her then husband, Scott, worked for the railroad and needed something sturdy as he traveled. She got some details of what he was looking for, and they came up with the first Tuffbag. He took it to work, and his coworkers began asking about them. Alene made a few, but as a busy mom with small kids, she didn't do it for long before hiring her sister Vana and her parents, my grandparents, Boyd and Nita.

Grandma and Grandpa are the ones who really got it going. Boyd came up with many of the patterns, and Nita did most of the sewing. To advertise they took trips to railroad stations around much of the western United States in their motor home. They would post flyers while Vana did the sewing until they got home from each trip.

In 1993, as they got a little older, Grandma and Grandpa sold the company to Vana. She has been running it since I can remember, though with Grandma and other family members helping occasionally, when it got really busy.

In 2017, Vana was looking to sell it. When she found cancer in December of 2017 I told her I wanted it. She died just a few weeks later in January of 2018. It took me a few months, but I was able to buy it in May of 2018 from Vana's husband, Uncle Ray.

My name is Genisse Oliphant Paget. I started sewing around the age of 8, which gave me about 20 years of sewing experience when I took it over.

Thank you to everyone who has helped, worked for, or improved Tuffbag so far. I look forward to the future.

Genisse Oliphant Paget