So there's this visual motif that you probably know, of the runaway kid
with his stuff wrapped up in a (usually polka-dotted) cloth tied to a
stick and slung over the shoulder.  I've seen this enough times to know
that if I ever run away from home I have to put my stuff in a cloth and
carry it in this manner.  Mostly recently I saw it in Wallace and Gromit's
The Wrong Trousers episode, where Gromit high-tails it away from home
after the evil penguin shows up.

My question is, where did this idiom come from?  Does it have anything to
do with carpetbaggers or bindle stiffs?  And is this actually a good way to
carry your stuff?