BAKED beans, a cake of soap and some disinfectant. That is what a trip to the showbag pavilion 50 years ago might have offered. And chances are you wouldn't have forked out a cent.
And the old showbags weren't as showy and gimmicky as they are now.
The earliest showbags were "sample bags" used by companies to promote their products.
The showbag idea is uniquely Australian and, while vendors have tried to introduce them in the UK and US, they've found little interest.
The concept dates back to the early 1900's when paper bags were filled with everything from canned meats to boot polish and distributed at Sydney's annual Royal Show.
For many businesses, the Show was the biggest advertising opportunity of the year.
“Companies went there with samples and they used to give them away for free for the first three or four hours of the day and then they sold them in the afternoon for a small price,” said Ed Veale, who has been in the showbag business for 40 years.
“I remember the Arnott's biscuit bags and the Rosella soup bag and the days of the famous Coles bag. All the banks were at the show too and they had money boxes and coin counting competitions.”
The company Mr Veale works for, Hunter Leisure, invented Pine O Clean and they used to offer samples bottles of disinfectant.
The showbag craze really kicked into gear during the depression when a resourceful family could virtually fill their pantry with a successful trip to the Industrial Pavilion.
In 1932, the 'Pick-Me-Up' bag cost just sixpence and included bottles of tomato sauce and mini cans of baked beans and spaghetti.
It wasn't until the early 1970's when the paper bags transformed to the confectionary and novelty filled plastic bags available today.
“When television came in it gave [companies] another medium to promote their products and a couple of us got together and turned it into a business,” said Mr Veale.
When Marcus Atkinson entered the showbag trade as a teenager in 1971, Bensons Trading, the family business he works for, had three bags- “Nestle, a magic bag and a horror bag.”
The show as a whole offered about 30 different bags.
This year the company boasts a selection of about 80 bags and the Showbag Pavillion will house 342 varieties. Last year more than 1.5 million were sold.
Mr Atkinson recalls a time when showbags cost just 25 cents.
The 2012 collection ranges from $1 to $25.
The term "showbag" began to replace "sample bag" when television themed bags- like Spiderman and Mickey Mouse emerged in the 70s.
This trend has maintained popularity with the showbag launch earlier this week displaying Junior Masterchef, Gossip Girl and Glee additions.
This year's Sydney Royal Easter Show runs for 14 days from April 5.
The full range of showbags is listed at http://www.eastershow.com.au/
