Wish you were here? Retro holiday guides
As a kid Jonny Trunk never went on holiday – perhaps that’s why he started collecting vintage brochures that showed glamorous beaches and cruises (but never the malfunctioning toilets)
TL;DR
- Holiday Exotica is a visual guide to retro holiday brochures, travel guides, maps, and more, focusing on how people planned holidays before the internet.
- The collection spans from the mid-1950s to the mid-1980s, covering both domestic and international travel, with destinations ranging from Africa and Australia to Bognor Regis and Belfast.
- Jonny Trunk, the compiler, shares personal anecdotes about his own lack of holidays as a child and how this inspired his collection of vintage travel ephemera.
- The brochures advertised a sense of escape, joy, sunshine, and paradise, reflecting a time when travel required significant organization, including physical maps, timetables, and local currency.
- The book includes materials catering to various budgets and travel styles, not just luxury options, and touches on iconic travel elements like Concorde and boating holidays.