Jonny Trunk never went on holiday as a child. Instead, he began collecting vintage holiday brochures that offered an idealised glimpse of glamorous beaches and cruise liners. His collection deliberately omits less flattering details, such as malfunctioning toilets.
The brochures present a polished version of vacations from decades past. They depict sun-drenched coastlines, pristine sands, and luxury liners, capturing moments intended to entice travellers during an era before online reviews and instant feedback. Trunk’s interest lies in the contrast between the brochures’ imagery and the reality they often concealed.
The appeal of these printed materials is partly nostalgic and partly historical. They reflect the optimism and marketing strategies of holiday companies aiming to sell dreams. Each brochure reveals design trends, photography styles, and cultural attitudes of its time. Trunk’s collection provides a visual record of how travel was sold to the public before the internet transformed the industry.
These brochures rarely mention the less glamorous aspects of travel, such as technical issues aboard cruise ships or overcrowded beaches. Trunk pointed out this selective storytelling as a reason for his fascination. The images and text promise an uninterrupted experience of leisure and luxury, creating a narrative that many holidaymakers hoped to find but often did not.
Collecting these brochures also serves as a way to preserve a fading form of print culture. As digital media dominates, physical promotional materials from previous decades become rarer. Trunk’s archive holds brochures from multiple eras, spanning different destinations and types of holidays, each with distinctive visual and textual language.
The collection’s appeal extends beyond nostalgia. It offers insight into the evolving aspirations of holidaymakers and how travel companies responded to changing consumer desires. The brochures reflect shifts in fashion, technology, and social attitudes toward leisure and exotic locations.
Trunk’s project reminds readers that travel marketing has always been a carefully crafted promise. The glossy pages invite viewers to imagine themselves in idealised settings, even if the reality was more complicated.
The collection remains private but has attracted interest from historians and design enthusiasts intrigued by how holiday brochures shaped perceptions of travel in the 20th century.
According to The Guardian.
