Let’s go to Scotland, the holiday paradise
Posted 19 May, 2011 13:04 by Karla Baker
On the 24 June 1909 Bartholomew printed 20,400 copies of the Caledonian Railway Tourist Map. It is a handsome map with a pleasingly warm tone but what sets it apart is the superlative advertising that is printed on the reverse.
The twin demons of overseas travel, expense and environmental ethics, have placed holidaying within the United Kingdom firmly back on the side of acceptable. This no doubt renders the extravagant assertions that the advertising makes slightly more believable. The “land of health and pleasure” could be a modern day slogan.
There are quite a few modern day resonances as it happens. The emphasis on the benefits of the open air, the memories that you will keep, the promotion of travelling by public transport and not least of all, the overall frugality. It is almost as if the intervening 100 years didn’t happen.
Perhaps the biggest difference comes in the guise of the “Duchess of Argyll”, a sleek and nippy looking steam ship. That said, there is in fact one such ship still in operation, the “Waverley” which ferries enthusiastic time travellers down the Clyde from Glasgow to this day. Maybe recreating the experience of visitors in 1909 isn’t quite as hard as one might suppose.
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