Originally posted by WHBM
Believe it or not, back in the pioneer 1920s days of aviation passengers were weighed and the fare covered passenger AND baggage up to a given weight, thereupon a surcharge. Jack Bamford, the Air France station manager in London from the 1920s to the 1960s, describes the process in his autobiography. The dial of the scales only faced the agent, not the passengers, to preserve ladies' modesty.
There was a programme on BBC4 the other night about the rise of air travel in the 20s and 30s which showed exactly that. In some cases the luggage went separately.