A supervisor or official in charge of baggage handling at a transportation station or hotel.
Compound of 'baggage' plus 'master' (Old English 'mægester', from Latin 'magister' meaning 'greater, chief'). The '-master' suffix indicates authority or expertise over a domain.
The baggagemaster was a position of real importance in Victorian and Edwardian hotels and train stations—they commanded teams of porters and were responsible for the secure storage and handling of passengers' most valuable possessions. Today, this job has merged into broader logistics management roles.
The implicit masculinity of 'master' in occupational titles reflects historical exclusion of women from supervisory and skilled positions in transport. This terminology naturalized male authority in operational roles.
Use 'baggage supervisor,' 'baggage manager,' or 'baggage chief' instead, which are functionally equivalent and gender-neutral.
["baggage supervisor","baggage manager","baggage chief","baggage coordinator"]
Women held supervisory roles in baggage operations and railway stations but were often listed under different titles or excluded from official rosters; reclaiming these roles requires neutral language.
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