In the original Charlie Chan novel (1920s?), a proper Bostonian is sent by his family to retrieve his wayward aunt from Hawaii.
It's train to SF, and boarding the ship to Hawaii, a young coed gives him grief about his top hat hat box - "...in the tropics? Really?" He chucks it over the side, and immediately regrets getting rid of the box, a present from his mother, but relieved he doesn't have to haul it, and its contents around.