Customer Reviews

See the USA: The Art of the American Travel Brochure

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Travel literature used to be stunningly beautiful, and See the USA captures the best of the best in a very hip layout. Cowgirls, Southern belles, beach babes promoting tourist Meccas all look luscious and inviting. This book ought to be required reading for any student of the graphic arts. Check it out!

Another reviewer has suggested that the brochure covers in this book are examples of good design, as a designer I can say that most of them are mediocre, though some of the illustrations are excellent. However, collect two hundred and put them in a well laid out book and they become fascinating and informative. Who can remember that in 1950 Liberal, Kansas was the 'Pancake hub of the Universe!

Authors Margolies and Baker write an interesting short history of these brochures and their choice of material is comprehensive. A bibliography is provided and a very detailed source list. If you have travelled around the country in the early part of the last century and like to look at printed Americana this book is certainly well worth having.

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

This is a pleasant collection of travel-related visual bric-a-brac, mostly from the teens, twenties, and thirties, presented without much comment or context. The material speaks for itself, and is worthy of collection, but a few better-focused volumes would serve this subject matter better.