Wednesday 13 April 2011

Planning a holiday?


  Then take a look at my travel brochure...


It's a Thomas Cook brochure and it was one of the very first 'old' things I ever bought, from a glorious little junk shop that used to be on the A3 near the brow of Portsdown Hill when I was a teenager.  I liked to go in and look for old bottles, but one day I spotted this and loved the front cover so much I had to buy it.

It was already a bit tatty, having lost its back cover, but that left this lovely ad visible, a further enticement to buy.


Of course, if this ad convinces you, you can still buy Eno's Fruit Salts, though not in such a pretty box!

On the other hand this 'essential' medication...


...is no longer available, due to it being a mixture of opiates, cannabis and chloroform!  Chlorodyne was, apparently, pretty effective, but it was also highly adddictive and the cause of many deaths from overdose... 

Maybe you fancy a British seaside resort...


'Splendid stretches of Golden Sand.
Bracing Air and Low Death Rate.'

You just don't see that kind of thing in ads these days!


I like the 'High Class Music'.  We don't want any of that low-brow stuff in Hastings!



 Or maybe you fancy a tour...

Scotland for a £5 note...


The Italian Lakes and Venice - a fortnight for a pound a day...


 Or perhaps you fancy a cruise round Great Britain?


Nine guineas will buy you 14 nights, with First Class Steamer Travel, Good Hotel Accommodation and Meals on Board.  But please note, the cruise does not dock at any point in beautiful Wales!

And for the more adventurous amongst you...


'The fares provide Atlantic passages out and home, First Class Travel in United States and Canada, sleeping berths and meals on trains and steamers; hotel accommodation; full board throughout; fees to hotel and railway servants; conveyance with luggage (one trunk) between all stations, steamers and hotels; carriage drives or local excursions at towns visited; service of competent Conductor (not in uniform).'


Well, that one's out of the running for me - I only ever travel with uniformed conductors...

4 comments:

  1. Great book! I love those old ads! I remember Collis Brown Mixture from student days!! There's so much detail, isn't there?! Tynemouth Pier -closed in stormy weather! X

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  2. You find the most amazing things....it's brilliant! I'd like to book Scotland for a fiver please...xxx

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  3. What a fab slice of history, I could spend hours reading through all of that! lizzie

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