Five vicarious vacations
Holidaymakers the world over have put their passports away this summer as the global pandemic continues to make international travel difficult, if not entirely impossible.
In an effort to recreate that holiday feeling, I’ve been seeking inspiration for future trips in some of the documents published in Leisure, Travel and Mass Culture: The History of Tourism.
This resource reveals 130 years of British and American working-class tourism from c.1850 to 1980 through a multitude of sources including travel journals, guidebooks, maps, photographs and film. Here are my top five dream getaways inspired by the documents found in these digitised collections.
1. The North Pole
Ever fancied travelling by dogsled to stand at 90° North? In 1985, Society Expeditions offered an exclusive 11-day trip promising adventure, breathtaking views and arctic wildlife, all culminating in selfies and sipping champagne at the North Pole.
North Pole, 1985-1986. Society Expeditions, Adventure Series. © Copyright of this material is retained by the content creators. John W. Hartman Center, Duke University does not claim to hold any copyrights to these materials. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission.
2. Agra, India
This 1957 leaflet celebrates Agra, inviting tourists to marvel at the architecture of the Agra Fort, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It describes the 70 ft high walls and almost 1.5 miles of unbroken masonry as ‘enclosing many relics of old splendour’.
Agra, India, Jan 1957. Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity for the Dept. of Tourism. © Copyright of this material is retained by the content creators. John W. Hartman Center, Duke University does not claim to hold any copyrights to these materials. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission.
3. Basel, Switzerland
This 1932 photograph shows passengers waiting to board the ‘World’s Largest Passenger Air Liner’ as part of one of the first escorted tours from The Polytechnic Touring Association. The P.T.A. prided itself on making travel affordable and accessible for middle-class and lower-middle-class travellers and the trip departed from Croydon in the UK, stopping in Paris before arriving at its final destination, Basel.
First Escorted Tour by Air to Switzerland: Photograph of the passengers. 14 May 1932. © Permission granted by the University of Westminster Archive. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission.
4. The Nile, Egypt
Leisure, Travel and Mass Culture: The History of Tourism includes the archives of Thomas Cook, founded in 1841 as Thomas Cook and Sons. Thomas Cook was the world’s oldest travel agency well-known for their package tours all over the globe. This brochure from 1939 advertises luxury tours of Egypt and the Nile on a Cook’s Nile Steamer.
Tourists would stop in Cairo, Aswan, Sakkara, and Memphis and take in Egypt’s ‘kaleidoscopic charm’ of rivers, ruins, hills, mountains, and desert scenes.
The Nile Voyage by Cook's Steamers 1939-40. © Permission granted by Thomas Cook Archives. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission.
5. Coney Island, USA
Coney Island has been a magnet for day-trippers since the mid-1800s and reached the height of its popularity during the first part of the 20th century. These images from the Otto Dreschmeyer Slide Collection at the Brooklyn Historical Society reveal two of its biggest attractions, the beaches and the amusements.
The Coney Island Cyclone is one of the United States’ oldest wooden rollercoasters, built in 1927 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.
Otto Dreschmeyer Brooklyn Slides (Coney Island), 1965-1968. © Brooklyn Historical Society. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission.
About the collection
Leisure, Travel and Mass Culture: The History of Tourism is out now.
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