A Holiday back in time

After 35-plus years, my father is moving -- this time from a farm house to an apartment in town.

While sorting long-forgotten things, I found a Holiday magazine from June 1959.

I have no clue why that issue survived, but I have been most entertained looking it over. The ads are better period pieces than the articles.

Except for the cruise firms, the suppliers are familiar names, sometimes in earlier guises, such as BOAC.

SAS invited readers to send in a coupon for a "free automatic plan-a-trip kit" that apparently included a record of a musical called "European Holiday," and passengers were offered a 24-month Pay Later Plan, with 10% down and monthly payments to follow.

All suppliers, except some hotels, suggested that readers see their travel agent.

But one ad was simply astonishing. The headline read, "You can see more at less cost when your Travel Agent helps plan your trip."

The ad begins, "People who've been to gay, colorful South America will tell you that the Travel Agent multiplies the pleasure by skillfully handling essential details."

And it concludes with, "Your Travel Agent is paid by a wide variety of transportation, hotel and tour [firms]. He gives you unprejudiced advice to be sure you're satisfied."

The advertiser was Panagra, Pan American-Grace Airways.

Now to that bevy of cruise ship advertisers. They were:

But the best of all, and perhaps most revealing, was an ad placed by Caravan Tours. It promoted, at $698 to $879, a fully escorted grand tour of Europe, covering 11 countries, starting in England and ending in France.

The price included passage to Europe and back, from New York or Montreal, aboard the Empress of Britain, Hanseatic, Homeric, Liberte, Maasdam, Queen Elizabeth, Queen Mary, Ryndam, Statendam or United States. From July 31, the ad listed 31 departures.

I cannot tell how long this trip was to last, but it must have cost about $20 a day.

Where do we sign up?

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