14 Retro Travel Brochures You Won’t Find Today

These long-forgotten travel brochures capture a time when tourism was a cultural performance, marketing not just places but ideals that have since faded or transformed.

  • Alyana Aguja
  • 5 min read
14 Retro Travel Brochures You Won’t Find Today
Eva Darron from Unsplash

Travel brochures from the mid-20th century were more than simple advertisements; they were cultural time capsules reflecting the dreams, biases, and aesthetics of their eras. They sold visions of luxury, adventure, and escapism tailored to specific political climates and societal norms. As the world changed, many of the places, routes, and ideals they depicted vanished, leaving behind only paper trails of nostalgia.

1. Pan Am’s “Around the World in 80 Days” Brochure (1960s)

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This glossy booklet promised a luxurious global adventure, with stops in cities like Beirut, Calcutta, and Tokyo. The pages were filled with posh illustrations and elegant stewardesses guiding you through a dream itinerary. Today, with Pan Am long gone and political climates changed, that exact route is impossible to recreate.

2. Disneyland’s “Vacationland” Magazine Brochure (1958)

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This seasonal brochure-magazine hybrid wasn’t just about Disneyland, but about all of Southern California. You’d find smiling families at Knott’s Berry Farm, surf spots in Huntington Beach, and Hollywood glam rolled into one sunny pitch. It was part of Walt Disney’s larger plan to brand California as a vacation playground.

3. Las Vegas “Glitter Gulch” Gambling Brochure (1970s)

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The term “Glitter Gulch” wasn’t just a nickname but a literal marketing slogan splashed across brochures featuring neon cowgirls and slot machines. You’d see the Dunes, the Stardust, and the Sands as icons of excess. Most of those original casinos have since been demolished or rebranded beyond recognition.

4. BOAC Concorde Preview Brochure (1971)

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Before British Airways officially launched its Concorde flights, its predecessor BOAC released a stunning fold-out featuring the supersonic jet. It bragged about crossing the Atlantic in under four hours with champagne in hand. This piece symbolized a future that felt like science fiction at the time.

5. Florida’s Cypress Gardens “Southern Belle” Brochure (1950s)

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This brochure featured women in hoop skirts posing amid manicured flower beds and water-skiing stunts on the cover. It sold Florida as a genteel, tropical version of the Old South. The park closed in 2009, and its brochure, steeped in outdated nostalgia, feels like a relic of a vanished cultural pitch.

6. Kodachrome National Parks Series (1950s)

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These brochures were awash in rich Kodachrome hues, showing families with coolers and campers exploring untouched trails in Yosemite, Zion, and Glacier. Often paired with gas station maps, they suggested you pack up the station wagon and go west. The stylized optimism of these prints now reads like Americana art.

7. Braniff International Airways “End of the Plain Plane” Brochure (1965)

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Designed by Emilio Pucci, this vibrant brochure showcased a psychedelic rebranding of air travel. It boasted brightly colored uniforms and planes in hues like “Jellybean Orange” and “Powder Blue.” The airline is long gone, but the brochure’s bold style was pure mod-era excess.

8. Puerto Rico “America’s Island in the Sun” Brochure (1950s)

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Backed by the U.S. government’s Operation Bootstrap campaign, these brochures invited Americans to experience Puerto Rico without leaving the country. It highlighted beachfront casinos, El Yunque’s rainforests, and a sanitized glimpse of Caribbean culture. The copy glossed over poverty and political issues entirely.

9. Atlantic City “Queen of Resorts” Brochure (1920s)

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Before Vegas stole the spotlight, Atlantic City marketed itself with sepia-toned brochures featuring the Steel Pier, saltwater taffy stands, and genteel boardwalk scenes. The typography alone screamed flapper-era glamour. Post-WWII decline and casino-era transformation mean this version of the city lives only in brochures now.

10. USSR Intourist Travel Brochure (1960s)

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Published in multiple languages, this Soviet state-sponsored brochure promised exotic holidays in places like Leningrad and Tashkent. Every photo was carefully curated to show happy workers, grand monuments, and cultural superiority. The heavily propagandized tone makes it a strange but fascinating artifact today.

11. TWA’s “Route of the Sun” Brochure (1940s)

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This elegant fold-out invited you to fly from New York to Havana to Mexico City to Los Angeles, tracing the hemisphere’s sunshine belt. It paired stylized art deco graphics with photos of poolside martinis and palm-lined boulevards. The route, altered by embargoes and politics, no longer exists in that form.

12. Yugoslavia Tourism Brochure (1970s)

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With sun-drenched images of Dubrovnik and Adriatic beaches, these brochures painted the Balkan state as a peaceful Mediterranean escape. The messaging was apolitical, with smiling youths and modern hotels. The country no longer exists, and its brochure is now a ghost of both travel marketing and geopolitics.

13. Niagara Falls “Honeymoon Capital” Brochure (1950s)

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Before jet-setting replaced road trips, newlyweds often picked Niagara Falls as their first romantic getaway. These brochures showed blushing brides holding hands near the roaring waters, with cheesy taglines like “Love Flows Like the Falls.” While still a tourist spot, it no longer holds the same symbolic appeal.

14. Hawaiian Islands Steamship Brochure by Matson Lines (1930s)

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Before planes dominated, travelers reached Hawaii via Matson cruise liners, which pitched paradise with soft watercolor art and leis on arrival. The brochures romanticized ocean journeys with tuxedo dinners, luaus, and island girls playing ukuleles. The age of luxury steamship travel to Hawaii is long past.  

Written by: Alyana Aguja

Alyana is a Creative Writing graduate with a lifelong passion for storytelling, sparked by her father’s love of books. She’s been writing seriously for five years, fueled by encouragement from teachers and peers. Alyana finds inspiration in all forms of art, from films by directors like Yorgos Lanthimos and Quentin Tarantino to her favorite TV shows like Mad Men and Modern Family. When she’s not writing, you’ll find her immersed in books, music, or painting, always chasing her next creative spark.

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